Thicker Than Blood
by romcom15.0
Summary: One "fated" meeting introduces Klarion and Wally, but as their relationship grows, and secrets are strained, the boys are faced with the question: Are you what others make of you, or are you what you perceive yourself as? A Kid Fate AU. hiatus
1. Sparklers

**Please don't be upset! I am working on my Ben 10 fan fic and the next chapter is almost ready, but I've been working on this forever and needed to publish. Sorry if the grammar is poorer than usual, my editor is on vacation. A brief explanation of what's happening: Bart Allen is Wally West's younger brother, Bart West. Bart is Kid Flash, and everything else will be explained. May contain slight OOCness.**

"WallyWallyWallyWallyWallyWallyWally!" Wally felt like he was in an earthquake as his younger brother shook him back and forth.

"Mmmn...Bart? Dude, what time is it-"

"Three A.M." Bart spoke quickly as he bounced in place. He was already in is bright, mustard-yellow, kid flash outfit. "Today's the day!" he grinned at his still half asleep brother.

"Yeah, the fourth of july." Wally casually brushed his little brother off like an annoying pet, knowing full well that the national holiday was not what he'd been referring to. The teen began to pick out several running outfits as Bart talked on and on about how amazing today was going to be. Wally did his best to not be upset with Bart. His little brother had every right to be excited for today. He'd worked hard to be a great sidekick, and Wally was **not** jealous.

"So what d'ya say Wall-man?" Wally was snapped out of his thoughts by his brother's question.

"Uh… could you repeat that?"

"Would you want to hang out with us later? Ya'know after the whole thing with the Justice League?" Bart looked up at Wally shyly, but with poorly hidden enthusiasm. "We could set off fireworks, play games... Dick would be there for sure, and I can probably convince the others to come if there's food!" The younger brother finished it off with his most powerful puppy eyes. Wally gave his own attempt at a bat-glare in return. One second passed, then two… ffoouuurrrr…

"*sigh* Fine!" Wally threw his hands up in the air as Bart did a super speed victory dance. "But!" Wally put up a finger and waited for Bart's undivided attention. "I need to know where, when, and you can't be more than half an hour late" Wally held up another finger with each condition.

"Alright, how 'bout... look-out hill, seven O'clock, and I **promise**!" Wally smiled down at Bart before ruffling his brother's hair.

"Deal, little man." He then turned back to the running outfits laid out on his bed. "Now go get some breakfast or something, I'll be down in like- twenty minutes." Bart moaned dramatically, and complained how that was sooo loooong of a wait as he made his way downstairs. Wally smiled to himself once Bart was gone. Today might not be completely awful.

…

It was official. Today was completely awful. It was bad enough that Icicle Jr. had wasted his time earlier, but now that they were here the League was just dismissing them like nothing had changed.

"That's it?!" The league members turned back to face a seriously miffed Speedy.

"You promised us a real look inside. Not a glorified backstage pass."

"It's a first step," explained aquaman, "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh, really?" Speedy gestured to the widow where paparazzi had plastered themselves for shots. "Who cares what side of the glass we're on?!"

"Roy," Green arrow stepped forward, "you just need to be patient-"

"What I need is respect." He turned back to the other sidekicks. "They're treating us like kids, worse, like **sidekicks**! We deserve better than this." Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad exchanged glances before looking back to Speedy. "You're kidding right? You're playing their game?! **Why?!** Today was supposed to be the day! Our first step to becoming full members of the Justice League."

"Well yeah…" Kid Flash spoke up, letting his natural shyness past his wall of usual enthusiasm and forwardness. "But I thought the first step was just a tour of the H.Q.?"

"That's just it! The hall isn't the league's real H.Q." All the senior members and sidekicks went slack jawed at hearing this. "I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists, and a pit stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the real thing! An orbiting satellite called the watchtower." Now Batman was glaring at Green Arrow.

"I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception?" Batman glared at him harder, and Olie frowned. "Or not." Aquaman then took a few more steps towards Speedy.

"You're not helping your cause here son. Stand down or-"

"Or what?" Speedy snapped back defiantly, "You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son," he turned to Green Arrow, "I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner. Not anymore." He threw his yellow hat to the ground before heading to the door. He glanced back at Robin, K.F., and Aqualad as he left. "Guess they're right about you three. You're not ready."

*Beep beep*

"Superman to justice league, there's been an explosion at project Cadmus."

…

"Mrrroooww!"

"Tch, you can say that again" The boy scowled as he walked through an unfamiliar forest. He'd desperately needed a change in scenery after the last fight he had with his associates. Sure, working together most certainly had its perks, but would it kill them to listen to him once and awhile? He might be the youngest, but he was also easily the most powerful.

"Mew roowwr ow. ( _your first big job, and it's already doomed to fail.)"_

"I know! Like seriously, I've known Nabu way longer than any of them have, but they still don't trust my judgement about him."

"Rourour. ( _Shh, someone's there)"_ Klarion paused before grinning. It was the fourth of july, so he'd gone far enough into the woods to avoid the annoying boom of the fireworks. Meaning it was also far out enough that no one would hear this imbecile scream. Silently he crept out from between the trees. His grin twisted further into a demonic smile as he made his way unnoticed up the side of a hill in the clearing. He loved huge entrances, who doesn't, but sometimes a classic jump scare was just the way to go. He'd made it halfway up before he got a good look at his prey, and when he did the witch boy completely froze.

His prey sat in a squat with clear emerald eyes glued to the stars. A faint glow from the sparkler he was holding made his red hair shine like fire, and- shit those freckles are cute. Teekle gave her boy a poke of her claw to snap him out of it.

" _Don't tell me you think he's dreamy"_ she complained flatly.

" _No! I'm… just going to have a little fun first."_ Klarion cast a silent illusion spell before creeping the rest of the way up the hill. "Awfully nice spot you got here." Klarion felt a rush of excitement as his prey startled.

Wally relaxed when he saw that the person who'd snuck up on him was just a normal kid.

"Thanks, are you, um, lost or something?"

"Nope." The stranger just grinned at Wally without elaborating. Wally found himself locking eyes with the odd boy in an awkward two minutes of silence before his sparkler went out. The moonlight made his pale skin appear blue, and almost… otherworldly. Wally glanced over to the basket of uneaten food that had been repacked after eight, the fireworks he'd never set off sitting next to it.

" _Why the hell not._ " Wally stood up and held out his hand to the stranger, flashing his signature smile. "The name's West, Wally West."

"... Ryan," Klarion smiled and shook the offered hand.

"It's a pretty good spot, yeah, but I'd be better if I had a friend to set off these fireworks with."

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Wally was taken aback when Ryan started laughing at him. "Aw, what? Did you get ditched?"

"So what if I did?" Wally snapped back while trying to hide his pout. "Jeez man!" Wally threw his hands in the air with an exasperated sigh. "I was trying to ask if you wanted to hang out with me so all this junk I hauled out here wouldn't go to waste!" Now it was Ryan's turn to be caught off-guard.

"You **want** to hang out with me?"

" **Nnnooooo** , twas all an elaborate ruse so as to gain your trust and kill you in your sleep! Yes, I really do want to hang out with you man." Wally smiled more teasingly this time. "Besides, I've got junkfood and explosives, who in their right mind would say no?"

"Hmn…" Ryan held his chin in an overly dramatic way before cracking a joking grin then easily made Wally's expression seem serious. "You do make a compelling argument, but I should inform you that I'm not alone."

"Who'd follow a creep like you into the wo-"

*Purr Purr* Wally looked down to see the stripey cat rubbing herself against his legs.

"Wow…" he breathed before reaching down to let her sniff his hand. "What breed is she? She's gorgeous." Klarion let out a chuckle before picking up his familiar.

"I thought you didn't like him," he whispered to Tackle, "What changed?"

"Ryan, a total creep that wanders the woods at night and mumbles to his cat." Wally whistled at him. "You must get all the babes."

"Wallace, the loser who tries hard, probably falls hard, and definitely fails hard." Ryan stepped closer to Wally to emphasize his two inch height advantage on the ginger. "You must be pretty desperate to want to be friends with a creep."

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure deep deep down you're a great guy." Both the boys broke into laughter. Klarion looked over Wally again. This kid wasn't an illusion, wasn't a super villain, and would probably be scared shitless like anyone else if he knew who he was talking to. If he just dropped his glamor everything would go back to normal, but maybe he could let Wally get tired of "Ryan" first before torturing him? What was the harm?

…

Kid Flash clung to the side of the express elevator at cadmus as Robin bypassed the security on his hologlove. After getting the all clear from robin Aqualad pried open the elevator doors to sub-level 25.

"Welcome to project cadmus," Robin stated as the three stared at the hall lined with… weird red… machine things. Wally would know what they are, or Robin would.

" _No Bart leave the thinking to the smart guys."_ Kid Flash thought as he dashed into the room.

"Kid wait!" Bart was barely able to skid to a stop before nearly getting squashed by the fist of a giant freaking mutant creature! He rolled out of the way with a sigh of relief before rejoining the team.

"No, nothing odd going on here," Aqualad stated sarcastically as the creatures passed. "Let us look around." At that the team began exploring the winding hallways of Cadmus. Most of the facility was machinary, nothing but computers till Robin hacked open a room full of living generators. The blue insect like mutants appeared to be producing electricity from within glass containers that fed power to the entire lab.

"This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world? The real Cadmus isn't even on the grid! It generates it's own power with these… things. Must be what they're bred for."

"Even the name is a clue," Aqualad took over for Kid, "the Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"And this Cadmus creates new life too." Robin began hacking into the nearby computer. "Let's find out why… They call 'em genomorphs. Woah!" Robin began flicking through the genomorph files. "Look at the stats on these things!"

"Stat? This isn't a videogame."

"Shut up Kid, check it, super-strength, telepathy, razor claws?! THESE ARE LIVING WEAPONS!"

"They're engineering an army," Kid whispered, "but for who?"

"Wait," interrupted Robin, "There's something else… Project Kr. Agh! The file's triple encrypted! I-I-I can't-"

" **Don't move**!" The trio's heads turned to see someone running at them with a group of genomorph at his heels. "Wait? Robin, A-Aqualad, Kid Flash?"

"Least he got your name right," Robin jabbed at Kid.

"I know you," Aqualad returned, "Guardian, a hero."

"I do my best." Guardian replied.

"Then what are you doing here?" demanded Kid.

"I'm chief of security, you're trespassing, but we can call the justice league, figure this out."

"You think the league is gonna approve of you breeding weapons?!"

"Weapons? What are you- what have I" The genomorph on guardian's shoulder horns glowed. "Ugh...my head... **Take 'em down hard! No mercy.** " Suddenly his genomorphs rushed the trio. Robin threw down a smoke bomb before firing his grappling hook, and escaping on his own. Kid wound up face to face with the things when he got cornered by three of them. They seemed ready to pounce just befor Aqualad chucked the two who'd come at him onto them.

"Focus ki-" Aqualad was cut off when Guardian slammed him in the side. The hit sent Aqualad tumbling across the floor, and into a metal panel. He quickly recovered just before Gaurdian made it back over to continue the match. Kid came past while running from two genomorphs he hadn't been able to defeat. He and Aqualad began scrambling down the hall till they spotted the missing boy wonder.

"Way to be a team player **Rob."**

 **"** Weren't you right behind me?" The elevator Robin was hacking slid open just long enough for the team to get on without any genomorphs following. The genomorph's bodies made dull thunks against the door before the elevator began to move.

"We're going down?"

"Dude, out is up!"

"Excuse me, project Kr is down. On sub-level 52."

…

"How can you eat so much candy at once?" Wally marveled at what had to be Ryan's fifth bag of sugar-coated sugar.

"How'd you haul all this out here? And why?" He retorted.

"I take trips, it's called effort, and there's supposed to be enough for five people!" Klarion whipped his head around to glare at Wally.

" **Why** do you do it though?! It's clear your 'friends' have pulled this on you numerous times. You aren't stupid so why?"

"I… they aren't… *sigh*... it's complicated." Wally wilted as he tried to come up with a way to explain his situation without letting it slide that he was practically raised by and with super heros. Ryan saw Wally's smile fade to a frown, and with it grew a foreign pain in his gut.

"You're too good for them," Ryan decided out loud.

"Huh?"

"I've been sitting here with you since 8:53. It is currently 11:10, and I can easily see that you're intelligent, care far more than is healthy, and you aren't particularly ghastly in any way so, do to lack of negative trait and therefore reason to avoid, the only logical reason your friendships are dissatisfying is that **you** are too good for **them**." Wally couldn't contain his laughter once Ryan had finished. "What's so funny?"

"N-nothing, just the *pft* 'matter-of-fact' way you said that. Ha!" Wally let his face drop again. Not into a full frown as before, but more of a sad smile. "Besides, I'm not dissatisfied with my friendships."

"Liar."

"Ok, fine, so maybe I wish I could fit in with kids at my school, but it's also kind of my fault I can't hang with my current friends."

"Why?" Klarion followed Wally with his eyes as the ginger stood up and headed towards the fire works.

"That information is classified." Wally shuffled around through the wrappers and punks for another firework to set off. "All we have left are sparklers," he spoke over his shoulder while grabbing the last pack. As he trotted back to Ryan he noticed the other teen had set aside his bag of candy and was once again mumbling to his cat.

" _This has gone far past play Klarion."_

 _"..."_

 _"You are getting into something you can't handle."_

 _"So I'm hanging out with a cute boy. There's no… harm in that."_ Teekle growled at her witch boy's denial of the obvious. Their conversation was cut short when the cause of the problem plopped down next to them and pulled out a lighter.

…...

"It's simple: get on board or get out of the way." All four of the teens turned to the justice league.

"Four days," Batman said, breaking the silence.

"...For what?" Robin cocked an eyebrow at his mentor.

"Go home and report back in for days. The league-"

" **Don't just push us aside!** "

"I'm not Superboy, tonight cannot be disregarded, but at the same time we need to decide what to do about… this. Until then the four of you need to trust us."

"You should take these next four days off," Aquaman suggested, "the League aren't the only ones who need to take a step back and cool their heads." The teens shuffled a bit and looked between each other.

"What about superboy?" Robin asked, pointing his thumb at the clone in question. Batman would have looked to Superman, but the Kryptonian had already stormed off.

"I'll take him!" Flash offered.

"Flash, if you take him in-"

"He can hang with my nephews! It'll be perfect Bats. Come on, I know it means I have to share my secret identity, but if they trust him I trust him." The Flash grinned at Superboy. "What 'dya say kid?" Superboy smiled back.

"Yeah, thanks."

…

The boys squatted over a patch of dirt they'd been using to light off the fireworks as the last two sparklers burnt out. Wally glanced at Ryan who was holding his sparkler in one hand and petting his cat with the other.

"You know, I don't think you ever told me your cat's name."

"Oh, it's, um… Te-Ti-"

"HISSS ( _If you tell him my name is 'Tickle' I will make you regret it.)"_

"Tea, her name is Tea. She's pretty close to me. We go everywhere together."

"That's cool man." Wally reached over to scratch her head. In return "Tea" stood up and moved between the boys so as to soak up all the attention she could. Purring loudly the whole time. "What're you doing tomorrow?"

"..." Ryan stared at Wally with a blank expression.

"Siriously? *Chuckle* You're that surprised about me wanting to spend more time with you?" Ryan looked back down at his sparkler. Wally felt a pang of worry that he might have hurt the boy's feelings in some way. "Ryan, I didn't-"

"Nothing."

"Wha?"

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow." He looked back at Wally. "When and where do you want to meet up?"

 **Warning- there will be much Miss Martian bashing in upcoming chapters. Also differing sexuality from cannon, but that's is probably suspected. Feel free to hate on my grammar. Thanks!**


	2. Strawberry & Lime

**Hello! As happy as I am to get this out so fast I am sad to say now that break in ending I'll be heading back to school so updates will be slower. Also have in mind where you want this fic to go because I need help.**

When Bart came downstairs Wally was already at the table doing a crossword puzzle from the daily paper. Their mom was in the kitchen working on breakfast.

"Morning sweetheart!" His mother beamed as he took a seat next to his brother. "How many eggs do you want?"

"Twenty, please!"

"Hmn…" She peered into the fridge. "How about nine eggs, and extra bacon?"

"Sounds great! Thanks mom." Bart turned to Wally with a smile that could rival Robin's flash grenades. "Morning Wall-man! Yesterday was amazing! Well, like, also kinda sad because Roy quit, but when the was a fire at Cadmus. And I know, 'fire? How's that good?' well turns out they were growing a superman clone in their basement. How wild is that?!" Bart was expecting the usual enthusiasm and interest, instead his brother turned to him with a scowl.

"My day was just **faaannsastic** , Bart, thanks for asking."

"Why are you so upset- oooohhhhhh sshhhiiii-"

"Bart," His mother joined Wally in glaring at Bart as she set two large plates of food in front of him. "What did you do?"

"Wally I am so-"

"It's fine. Really."

"Boys, what happened?" Soon after Bart began to tell his story their mom, and both she as well as Bart himself, became lost in it. His little brother quickly turned from explaining his crime to another story of his heroics Wally didn't need to hear. Wally quietly excused himself once Bart got to the part where Roy left. Luckily, he was already wearing his running clothes, and grabbed his backpack from the mudroom before he left. He felt a tug of anger in his guts at how easily his family had forgotten his plight. Wally tried to argue the feeling away as he jogged further from home with the fact that it was normal for them to be like that towards him. The tactic didn't help, and the pain grew worse.

" _I'm not taking what Ryan said seriously, am I?"_ Two laps around the park couldn't chase away his doubt. So he made for downtown. " _Please, if I was really too good for them I'd be able to make other friends. Can I do that? No."_ He turned onto the sidewalk of main street. _"Ryan's wrong, They're too good for me."_ Wally stopped for a crosswalk light and noticed a different kind of gut pain. Hunger. Man, how long had he been running? A quick glance at his watch told him it was ten til noon. Forget jogging, he had ten minutes to meet up with Ryan! Wally sprinted towards the diner they'd agreed to meet up at. He could almost feel the minutes slipping away as he closed in. Five… four… three… two...one!" Wally practically threw himself into the dinner. He made it! Still panting like a dog he looked around for Ryan. Wally couldn't help but wonder why Ryan had recommended the place. Other than the little old lady behind the counter the restaurant was pretty well deserted.

"Are you gonna come sit, or just stand in the doorway the whole time." Ryan waved him over to a seat in the back.

"Dude, they let Tea in here?"

"Of course, why wouldn't they?" Ryan stroked his cat. He pretended to be watching her lounge in a sunny spot on the table in hopes Wally wouldn't see his blush. Klarion knew the ginger was frikin hot, but did he have to show up to lunch sweaty, flushed, and wearing a black skin-tight running suit with green trim that made his eyes pop.

"Yeah, I don't know where you're from, but most places in Star city don't allow pets." Wally set his bag down next to him.

"That's so unfair! Why can't I take her everywhere?!"

"Because, like sanitary reasons. And most animals aren't as well behaved as Tea." At hearing Wally say this Ryan crossed his arms and pouted.

"Those people are just a bunch of stinky 'ol kitty hatters!"

"Ah ha ha ha! Dude what are you, four?" Wally only laughed harder when Ryan stuck his tongue out.

"Good afternoon gentlemen." Both teens turned to see the elderly from behind the counter greeting them with menus. "You should have come for breakfast, we have a discount for couples." She beamed down at them as Klarion's face did its best impression of a tomato.

"We're not a couple!" Ryan claimed waving his hands in a flustered way. The elderly woman smiled and apologised, but she still looked at them in a way that made Wally think she didn't believe Ryan.

"Thank you m'am." Wally took one of the menus while trying to ignore Ryan's flustered response. He had been so relaxed last night. Wally felt his heart ache. Was Ryan embarrassed of him? Is that why he recommended an unpopular diner? So that no one would see them? The heart ache grew with his doubt. He ordered a water before gluing his eyes to the menu when the waitress left.

Klarion swore that his heart was beating so loud Wally could probably hear it. He had picked a place famous for breakfast, but not lunch to avoid crowds, and to lessen the chances someone might recognise him. All he'd changed physically with his glamor was removing the horns in his hair and turning his skin to a very pale flesh tone from it's usual blue. Other that that the only thing keeping him safe was a deep blue hoodie, and dark grey jeans. He glanced up at Wally, risking that the other teen might see his blush, only to see a hurt, and confused expression on his face. Shit shit SHIT! What had he screwed up this time?!

"What's wrong," Ryan blurted. He instantly regretted it when Wally flinched. His mouth tasted sour at seeing Wally put on one of the most practiced fake smiles he'd ever seen. The expression oozed "I lie about my feelings to make other people feel better."

"It's nothing."

"It's clearly something. Now what'd I do?"

"No!" Wally exclaimed, putting his hands up, "You didn't do anything!"

"Is that the issue?"

"No, I- I just…" Wally looked back down at the menu, put his head in his hands, sighed, and looked back up at Ryan. "If… if you're… *mumble mumble mumble*"

"Wally I can't fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong." Klarion crossed his arms and waited.

"... It's stupid."

"If it's got you so upset then it obviously isn't 'stupid'." Ryan rolled his eyes before an idea popped into his head. Wally didn't see him smirk because his face was back in his hands. In fact, he didn't even realise Ryan had moved till he felt a pair of lyth, but strong arms, wrap around his shoulders. Wally didn't flinch when Ryan slid his body up against Wally's so that their hips were flush together. Ryan leaned in so Wally could feel his breath on his ear as he spoke.

"What's got you so upset?" Klarion couldn't hide his smile when Wally stopped using his hands to block his sight, and started using them to block his blush.

"I-it's… are you embarrassed of me?" Wait what?! That's What has his Wally so upset? Klarion pulled away slightly. His hands held onto Wally's shoulders and turned the ginger to face him.

"Wally, look at me." Ryan's tone was surprisingly gentle and reassuring. Wally found himself lowering his hands. His eyes drifted up to meet Ryan's. "Did you ever consider that I chose a quiet place so I could have you all to myself?" Wally swallowed thickly. How had Ryan known about his problems with the dinner? And what did he mean by "have you all to myself"?

"That's a water for you, and a strawberry lemonade for you." The boys separated immediately when the waitress started speaking. The elderly woman held back a chuckle at how much they reminded her of herself when she was young and shy. "Are you boys ready to order?"

"Uh y-yeah um I..."

"I'll have a bowl of strawberry sorbet, he'll have lime, please."

"Of course, I'll have those right out." The teens sat in silence for a few seconds before Ryan moved back to his side of the booth.

"Sooooo… you like strawberries?" Wally asked Ryan with a small smile.

"O-of *clears throat* Of course I do. Strawberry is the best flavor." Ryan smiled back at Wally. "I hope you aren't to upset about me ordering for you."

"Please, I'm more concerned about your strictly sugar diet."

*gasp* "Wallace West! I'll have you know I eat healthy foods too!" Ryan put his hand over his chest in mock offense. "Sorbet totally has fruit in it right?" Both of them burst out laughing. Klarion couldn't help the light feeling he got as the conversation became as easy as last night. Wally had slid out of his shell and began explaining a science project he was working on. Klarion had honestly gotten lost after Wally had started talking about fusion, which was around the same time their ice cream had come, but he was still enthralled by everything the ginger was saying. Wally moved his arms and hands to do his best to demonstrate what he was talking about. Everything felt so… peaceful.

Wally had continued to sit and talk with Ryan even after they'd both run out of ice cream. The conversation shifted from science to cats somehow and and Tea had wormed her way into Wally's lap while Ryan moaned about this one time she'd been chased by Ryan's adopted father through his hometown. All because she'd accidentally scratched said step dad's pet lizard.

*bzzz bzzz* Klarion was cut short when Wally's phone went off. The ginger shot him an apologetic glance before checking the caller I.D.

"Sorry, it's my mom." Ryan only nodded before Wally answered his call. "Hey, mom… I'm out with a friend… yeah… no I-... sure mom… okay… bye." Wally sighed heavily. "I gotta go man. My mom is having car troubles."

"Oh, it's fine. Do you wanna meet up again sometime?"

"Of course? I'm free tomorrow. You?"

"Yup."

"Same bat time same bat channel?"

"Pfft! See you tomorrow, dork." Ryan picked up Tea and headed for the counter as Wally picked up his backpack and headed for the counter.

" **How much?** " They spoke simultaneously. Both boys looked at each other.

"Ryan, **I** invited **you** out. I'm paying."

"Well I chose the place and food so I want to pay."

"You can pay next time." Ryan decided this wasn't worth fighting over, and allowed Wally to pay. Of course he still got something out of it by following Wally out so he could admire the slightly shorter boy's physique. Just outside Wally stopped and turned to Ryan. "We should exchange numbers." Klarion almost panicked. He was a lord of chaos. He'd always communicated through magic. He didn't have a phone!

"Well, actually I don't have a phone right now." Ryan was quick to explain when Wally gave him a confused look. "'Cause I just moved here so stuff's getting figured out, but I'm getting one tomorrow."

"Do you have a number?"

"Ah, no. We're switching plans so our phone numbers are getting changed too."

"Well…" Wally scratched the back of his head before taking off his backpack. He took out a slip of paper and a pen before scribbling down his number. "Call me when you get it." Wally couldn't stop grinning while he handed Ryan his number. He couldn't stop grinning when they waved goodbye, and when he got to the autoshop his mother's car had been towed to he was grinning the whole time they had to wait.

Klarion immediately went to get a phone. One that could take pictures of cute redheads. Teekle hated having to sitting outside the verizon store.

…

"So what do you wanna do today Supey?" Bart asked the clone who was sitting on his Uncle Barry's couch, and watching static on the T.V. Superboy looked up at Kid Flash. They'd spent the whole day together yesterday. The younger Flash was… alright he guessed.

"I'd… like to go outside today."

"That's a great idea!" Uncle Barry exclaimed as he came in from the kitchen. "Growing boys shouldn't just play games and surf the internet. But…" He looked down at Superboy like he was thinking hard before snapping his fingers like a lightbulb had lit up over his head. The Flash sped out of the room then sped back with a light jacket and sunglasses. "Here, best to keep a low profile." Superboy shrugged on the jacket before he put on the glasses. He looked at his reflection in the window.

"I don't look very different."

"No," Barry agreed, "but you look forgettable." Superboy put up the jacket's hood so he couldn't see his short black hair. "Do you need some money?"

"Naw, Uncle Barry, I got it covered."

"Oh, almost forgot boys, Batman wanted to meet up with Superboy about something tomorrow so don't stay out too long."

"We'll be good! Bye Uncle Barry!" Bart was bouncing so much he was nearly skipping with excitement as the two made their way down the sidewalk. "So, Supey, where do you wanna go?"

"There's a park around here right?"

"Yup!"

"I'd like to go there."

…

After spending lunch helping Ryan figue out his new phone the boys decided to go on a walk through the park. Sunshine and chirping birds weren't usually Klarion's gig, but Wally was having fun so he guessed he could make exceptions. Teekle, on the other hand, was soaking up more sun while lazing across her witch boy's shoulders.

"So then I realised-"

"Wally? Hey! WALLY!" Klarion was immediately aggravated by whoever had the nerve to interrupt his time with Wally, and right while the ginger was talking too! The intrusive brat practically bolted up to them as a taller teen trailed behind him. "Wall-man! Dude, I did not expect you to be here. What's happening?"

" **We** were talking, and it's very rude to interrupt," Klarion growled while stepping between his Wally and the stranger. Said stranger scrunched his face up in frustration.

"Who are you?"

"Goodness, more rude manners. Don't you know it's polite to introduce yourself first?" Wally stepped between the pair.

"Ryan, Bart. Bart, Ryan. Friend, little brother. Little brother, friend." Wally then pointed to Superboy. "He's…"

"...Kon."

"Like 'The Wrath of Kahn'?"

"No, like K-O-N. I have a… weird family."

"Right, well as much fun as it was to meet the two of you," Ryan hooked his arm around Wally's. "We are currently hanging out together." He shot an angry glare at Bart. "So buzz off."

"I don't see why **I** can't spend time with **my** brother." Bart took a step towards Ryan. He puffed out his chest in an attempt to look tough, but Ryan took only half a step forward, and used his height advantage to practically hover over Bart in a far more threatening display.

"Because I was here first," Ryan growled.

"How about," Wally once again forced his way between the pair, "we all just hang out together?" He smiled pleadingly at Superboy. "That sounds like fun, right?"

"Y-yeah, sure. We can do that." Kon seemed a little flustered at the situation, but he knew that he wanted to help Wally. "We were going for a walk, but I read online last night that there's an arcade around here."

"That sounds like a great idea. Come on guys." Wally gave Bart a warning glance as he dragged Ryan behind him by the wrist. Tea slid down from Ryan's shoulder into the arm that Wally wasn't holding while her boy rolled his head back dramatically like a child. Bart quickly made his way to the opposite side of Wally from Ryan. Kon hardly minded walking next to Ryan because after staring at Tea for a good five minutes Ryan let him pet her. The group was mostly quiet till they reached the arcade. Wally couldn't help but feel awkward at the way Bart and Ryan kept trying to glare at each other around him.

"Wall-man, you have got to verse me on skeeball!"

"Of course, Ryan what do you want to do?" Ryan looked to Wally then back to where Kon was petting Tea in the sitting section before giving his answer.

"Make that versus into a three-way skeeball competition and you'll have your answer."

"Ooohhhh-ho-ho, it's on bitch face!"

"Bart!"

"Challenge accepted, ya little brat."

"Ryan!" Both Bart and Ryan were at the skeeball machines before Wally could stop them. He ended up watching as they faced off. The score went back and forth with each ball, and the competitors seemed to get angrier and angrier each time they were losing. Wally had never seen skeeball played so… ferociously. Maybe this was a bad idea?

"No no NO!"

"Who's the brat now, bit-"

"Bart! Don't, just… *sigh*" Wally looked at the matching scores displayed on the machines. Bart stood up on his tiptoes to get in Ryan's face.

"The only reason it was a tie was because you cheated."

"*Tch* If you're so confident about that then let's rematch, shorty," Ryan sneered down at Bart. While they were distracted Wally dropped a quarter into one of the machines.

*bing bing bing bing bing bing bing bing bing* " **NeW hIgH sCoRe!** " Both Bart and Ryan's jaw dropped at Wally's perfect score of 90,000.

"I win. No rematch." Wally turned around with his arms crossed. This was how the rest of the day went: they would start a game, Bart and Ryan would get too competitive, and Wally would somehow distract them. Wally tried to get them to do different things, but they both only wanted to do something with Wally. Eventually Ryan noticed his Wally was upset and went to sit with Kon and Tea as Bart continued to run around with his older brother in tow.

"...Hi" Ryan looked over to Kon who was petting Tea under the chin, and making her purr like a motorboat.

"Hey… hmn… at least you two seem to be having a good time."

"Are you not?"

"Not really…" Ryan said. He passively rested his chin in his hand and propped his elbow up on the table.

"Do you not like arcades?"

"Do you?"

"I've never been to one before, but I think I prefer cats." Teekle approved his answer by letting Kon pet her stomach.

"Heh, me too."

"Just one more game? Please?" Kon and Ryan watched the West brothers as they approached.

"No, Bart. It's 4:30, and mom wants us home for dinner."

"Fine," Bart pouted.

"You two ready to go?" Wally asked Ryan and Kon.

"If you're going then I have no reason to stay." Ryan got up and took back Tea from Kon. Superboy got up silently and followed everyone else out. He walked slightly behind them so he could see everything. Bart walked with his hands balled up in his pockets, still glaring at Ryan. Ryan, on the other hand, kept his attention on Wally as they spoke about some earlier conversation. Tea's tail swished back and forth in annoyance as she glared at Bart for Ryan.

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Bart's eye twitched at hearing his brother ask the creep that.

"No, but I wouldn't mind walking you home." Bart's face turned red with anger.

"Heh, right, but seriously, me and Bart live together, and Bart already told me that we're walking Kon home. So if we walk you home after we walk Kon home then no one has to go home alone."

"Well aren't you motherly. But how would I know you got home safely?" Bart looked really upset. Superboy wondered if he should say something.

"Don't you still have my number?"

"Yeah, but still, Star city is known for its eccentric villains. I can't protect you over the phone-"

"I CAN PROTECT HIM!" The whole group stopped at Bart's outburst.

"Bro what the heck-"

"I don't like him Wally! I can just tell he's bad news! He looks at you strange, and I just know it!"

"Bart I-"

"I don't want him to know where we live, or have your number! Just stop being friends with him!" Now it was Klarion's turn to be pissed.

"And it's always about what you want isn't it?!"

"No! I-"

"YOU?! What do **you** know?! Do **you** know how Wally feels when he always goes out of his way to make **you** happy without getting anything in return? No, because you're only really concerned with yourself. **You** don't know that Wally has no friends at school. **You** don't know that he feels ignored at home, or how many things he wants and time he's given to you that didn't get him so much as a thank you in return! **You** probably don't even know that he's at the top of his class, and won the local science fair five years in a row. BUT I DO!" At first Bart seemed shocked, intimidated, and even a little hurt, but his emotions quickly became anger instead.

" **SHUT UP**!" Bart swung at Ryan with almost, but not quite, inhuman speed. But somehow Ryan was even faster. He dodged the hit, moving sideways while dropping Teekle before snapping his fist out like a snake, and catching Bart directly in the nose. The force of the impact sent Bart back onto his ass.

"BART!" Wally nearly screeched his brother's name like a girl. He threw himself too his brothers side. Blood gushed from between Bart's hands as Wally helped him sit up. Pain contorting his little brother's face. Wally fussed over him in a near hysterical panic. He moved his brother's hands aside to see the thankfully unbroken nose. Klarion felt guilt swirl in with his anger at seeing his Wally in such a state of duress. He actually did screw up this time.

"Wally-"

"DON'T." Wally looked up at Ryan with fat tears streaming down his face which was painted with fear and anger. Klarion's anger pulled at him.

"HE SWUNG AT ME FIRST-"

"HE'S FOURTEEN AND AN IDIOT!"

"I wasn't-"

"STOP!" Wally's shoulders started shaking as tears gave way to little sobs he tried to keep under control. "I k-know it's hi-is fa-hault!" Wally to a minute to control his breathing before wiping away his tears. "I kn-now. But he's my brother, and…" Wally looked down away from Klarion's eyes. "I think you should just go."

Klarion opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it. He stormed off with Tea behind him without saying anything else.

…

Bart's speedster abilities had his nose healed by the time they got back to Uncle Barry's house. Not a single word had been said after Ryan left. When they went into the house it was Aunt Iris who greeted them first.

"Hello boys- Bart! What happened?!" She rushed over and took his face in her hands. She was trying to see under all the blood left over. Bart looked away in embarrassment.

"He's fine Aunt Iris. It wasn't a break." Iris let go of Bart and turned to Wally.

"But what happened?"

"He decided he was going to be a complete jerk to the only friend I've ever managed to make who wasn't a super nut, spent the whole day arguing with him, **insulted** him and called him **bad** for no reason, SWUNG at him, GOT DECKED IN RETALIATION, AND NOW RYAN WILL **NEVER** WANT TO EVER TALK TO ME AGAIN BECAUSE MY BROTHER"S A SELFISH **PRICK** AND I **SIDED WITH HIM!** " Wally was on the verge of crying again, but contained himself better this time. "And I am so sorry Superboy, that you were stuck in the middle of all of it."

"It's fine."

"No," Wally said, "It's really not." Iris swallowed thickly. How was she going to fix this?

"Barry's out on patrol right now. Bart go clean yourself up and pull out the couch bed. I'll tell your mother you're staying the night so when Barry gets back he can speak with you. Superboy, will you be fine keeping an eye on Bart while I drive Wally home?"

"I thought **I** was supposed to keep an eye on **him**." Iris shot Bart a look that would make captain cold freeze in place. "Going!" He sped out of the room.

"I can handle it Mrs. Allen." Iris's gaze softened into a gentle smile.

"Thank you, and please call me Iris." The quiet clone smiled back.

"Please call me Kon."

"Alright then. Wally?" Wally followed his Aunt out to her car silently. Once she had driven about a block and a half she started talking again. When she couldn't get anything more than one word answers about his day she switched over to school. Once she had him calmly talking to her in detail about his grades and accomplishments she took a risk.

"So, who's Ryan?" Wally froze up a little.

"He's, well I met him on the fourth, and we just became friends really fast. I feel like I've known him forever." Wally started smiling a he got a "far away" look in his eyes. "He can be a bit childish sometimes, but he loves animals, sweets, he's really funny, good with conversation, a great listener, and, I don't know, we just really connected ya know?"

"Yes," Iris smiled, "it sounds like you really like him."

"Of course I do! Ryan is great. I mean, he's not Dick, but it was so cool to have a friend I could hang out with regularly."

"Do you have his number?"

"No, I gave him mine, but I don't have his."

"I see…" Iris hated to see her nephew like this. Wally always managed to smile no matter how bad things got, or if things didn't go his way (which they often didn't). He was so strong, and he didn't even know it. "Well if he cherishes this friendship as much as you do I'm sure he'll reach out to talk to you." She tried her best to sound convincing, but she could tell Wally wasn't so sure.

…

Wally went to their diner the next day. He ordered lime sherbert, and waited for two hours, but Ryan never showed up. The elderly waitress gave him a sympathetic look the whole time. It was awful.

Wally tried to go for a run, but his heart wasn't in it. He ended up just walking back home.

"Can we talk?" Wally looked up from where he was taking off his running shoes in the mudroom to see a nervous, shy Bart.

"...Fine... *deep breath* Yeah okay." They moved to sit at the table. Their mom was at work so the house was empty save for them.

"I'm sorry, I was jealous, and I know it's a sucky reason for what I did, but I promise I won't lose myself like that again. I- I don't expect you to forgive me. I just want you to know that I'm really super sorry." Wally listened while staring Bart dead in the eye the entire time. He took another deep breath.

"It's not okay, but I do forgive you." Wally broke eye contact, got up, and started going upstairs to his room. "I'm still really super pissed at you though."

"Yeah…"

*ding dong* Wally paused halfway up the stairs to listen while Bart answered the door.

"Ryan?" Wally froze. Ryan? Here? He never gave him his address, he should still be to upset to talk to him, he, he… Oh gosh Ryan was here! "What are you doing here? Did you come to see Wally?"

"No Bart, I came to see you actually." Ryan shuffled around a bit. "I wanted to apologize for what I did as well as my behavior. It was terribly rude of me."

"N-no! Are you kidding?! **I** was the rude one! I'm so sorry, dude."

"I'm sorrier, I could have seriously hurt you." Not that Klarion cared what happened to this brat, but if hurting this little shit hurt Wally he'd do his best to avoid such mistakes in the future. If there was one thing Klarion's family had managed to drill into his head, it was manners.

"Soooo…" Bart extended his hand to Ryan, "truce?" Klarion seared inside as he smiled pleasantly and shook Bart's hand.

"Truce." For now.

*puurrrrr* Wally looked down to see Tea rubbing on him. He hadn't even realised she'd slipped past Bart into the house. Apparently Bart hadn't noticed either judging by the look on his face when Wally came to the door carrying the striped cat.

"I'm sorry to, Ryan."

"You have absolutely nothing to apologise for. I was unreasonable." Klarion soon found himself invited in, and given a tour. His favorite part was Wally's room of course. He did his best to memorize every inch of it, and was reluctant to leave it when his Wally's mother came home, but he did. The brother's mother was easily won over with his manners, and he ended up being invited to stay for dinner. Ryan left after giving Wally his number. The two boys made plans for the next day and Ryan left.

Luckily everything went well. Especially for Klarion as the day was Bart-free since he had been called in by Batman. That night Wally couldn't get him to shut up about young justice.

 **Now that that's over I need your help. I am torn between two main paths for this fic and I want the viewers' input to help me decide. We can either stay on the angsty, dramatic, borderline above T rating (meaning more chapters like this one) Or we can dive head first into the dark world of M. Meaning there will most likely be kidnapping, obsessive behavior, possessiveness, sex, mentions of past child abuse, very iffy on this but maybe non/dub-con?, some more violence (just a bit) and unhealthy relationships both romantic and platonic. If you have an opinion please share, it's as easy as saying M or T. Thanks. P.S. Explicit content will probably end up on archive of our own.**


	3. Like Mother

**O.K., so I was planning to make this longer, but it was already really long. So I'm posting what I've got here, and I've decided to post a censored version of the story here, and a full version on Archive of our own. It Will be under the same title, so it hopefully won't me too hard to find. Thank you for everyone who read, and everyone who reviewed.**

"So what is this brother of yours like Bart?" Miss Martian asked as she watched the youngest member of the team, Bart, school their leader, Kaldur'am, at table hockey.

"Oh he's the best! My older bro is super smart, funny, he's really athletic, and just ssoooo cool!"

"You seem to look up to him quite a bit!" she giggled.

"Yeah, when we were little we used to be inseparable!" Kid Flash got the puck past Aqualad again. "I wanted to be just like him." Bart seemed to relive a memory because he paused with a far off look till Aqualad scored a point. Robin got a slightly mean smirk.

"Till you became a hero, and had no time for him." Bart seemed to shrink in on himself a bit. His smile becoming a slight pout at what Robin said. "By the way, who's Ryan?" Bart scrunched up his face with uncertainty.

"My brother's new friend. He just moved to Star City, and Wally hangs out with him every day." Aqualad scored another point. "The dude gives me so many bad vibes, but he acts like a pretty upstanding guy."

"Heh heh heh, is the little West jealous?"

"No Robin, I'm just- worried."

"Well, Worried, I'm planning to head over on my next free day to scout the competition."

"Competition?" Miss Martian quirked her head in an attempt to act cute.

"Wally and Robin have been best friends for almost as long as any of us can remember," Aqualad explained, "I hardly believe your position is in jeopardy."

"Still," Robin shrugged, "better safe than sorry. Besides, KF might be an idiot, but if he thinks this Ryan guy is bad enough news to be concerned about, then he's at least worth checking out." Bart scored another point just before the zeta tube activated.

 **"Recognized: Superboy C04"** The clone marched angrily forward without looking at any of the team. Even when Miss M. tried to greet him and ask how Metropolis was he ignored her and kept going, seething with anger and frustration as he did.

"Ehmn! Ready for training guys?" Everyone but Superboy looked to the two leaders heading towards them.

"Black Canary, and uncle J'onn!" M'gann trotted over to Martian Manhunter, and hugged him. Superboy had stopped his angry march to nowhere and was watching them.

"Megan," J'onn put a hand on his niece's shoulder in a fatherly way that made Kon feel hollow inside. "I was… in the neighborhood. So i thought I'd see how you are adjusting."

"A few bumps, but I'm learning!" she assured. Superboy didn't want to see anymore.

"That's all I can ask."

"Stick around," Black Canary practically commanded when she saw Superboy trying to sneak off, "class is in session."

…

"How the heck did you even do that?!" Wally stared in disbelief at his KO'ed character as Ryan sat cross-legged on the floor next to him laughing. "I thought you'd never played this game!"

"It- ah hahaha!- must be magic! Ha HA!" Wally rolled his eyes.

"Magic doesn't even exist, dork." Ryan immediately stopped laughing.

"Say what now?"

"Magic isn't real?" Tea was knocked out of her boy's lap when he sprung to his knees, dropped his controller, and grabbed Wally by the shoulders.

"You can't really not believe, can you?"

"You have got to be joking. Dude, you are like- seventeen!"

"So are you!"

"Yeah, so why do you still believe in magic?"

"Because it's reeaaaallll…" Ryan slowly shook Wally back and forth. The ginger's expression said he was unimpressed with his friend's drama.

"Fine then," He grabbed Ryan by the hoodie, and yanked the taller boy forward as he fell back. Wally smirked up at a blushing Ryan who was now on all fours above him. "Prove it."

"W-what?"

"What evidence do you have that magic is real?" Klarion stared down in wonder at his Wally. So daring, so strong, so… perfect. If he showed him who he was would his Wally be afraid? Would he try to run? Would he scream? Cry? Oh, how Klarion wanted to know. In Fact, he'd never wanted anyone so much.

The witch boy was drawn out of his thoughts when he felt a pair of arms wrapp around his neck. Wally smiled up at him with an expression somewhere between cheeky and sweet.

"I knew you didn't have any!" Wally let go and slid out from under Ryan. The ginger teen began to shut off the game while Klarion was frozen in place. Only his head moved with a blank stare to follow his Wally.

"Are you just gonna stay like that all day?" Ryan didn't answer him. He just got up and silently followed Wally upstairs to his room. Wally plopped down on his bed without noticing that Ryan closed and locked the door. "What's your house like?" Wally asked while staring up at the ceiling. Ryan climbed over Wally's bed, and sat with his front to the shorter teen's back. Ryan's legs rested on the outsides of Wally's as he held him around the waist, and rested his chin on Wally's shoulder.

"Hmn… It's bigger." Wally felt himself leaning back into Ryan. He knew their actions went past friendly, but Wally had been thinking and… maybe he wanted them to go further. Even if he's only known Ryan for like, a month, he just felt so content when he was with him.

"Is that all?"

"I have more books… less bedrooms."

"Hnmm…" Wally closed his eyes and relaxed. It felt strange to feel so calm around someone, yet so on edge. On the edge of what he didn't know, but he sure as sugar hoped Ryan felt the same. He could ask him. Should he ask him? Would it hurt their friendship? Grrrr, this was making his brain hurt.

"Hey Wally?"

"Yeah, Ryan?"

"What do you think of me?" Red lights of panic had Wally opening his eyes and stiffening in Ryan's grasp. Alert, Alert: we are not prepared! His heart felt like it was on hyperdrive. What should he say?!

"I-I mean I-well-it-I...I like you-BUT NOT LIKE THAT! Unless...you...like...uuhhhh…." Wally had his head enveloped in his arms. He had pulled up his legs so he was nearly a ball in Klarion's grasp. The witch boy in disguise behind him has trying his very hardest not to lose it. The deep blush he sported almost hurt his face with how hot it was.

"What if I did?"

"Did what?"

"Like you back like that." Wally unrolled himself to look back at Ryan.

"I…" Wally turned around so he was facing Ryan. His legs resting over the taller boy's thighs. Ryan kept his arms around Wally's waist. "dunno…" Ryan smiled at his Wally's answer. He leaned in, but stopped when a small flash of fear went through his Wally's eyes. The ginger wasn't quite ready to go that far yet.

For Wally it was like Ryan had read his mind despite the fact that he was to scared of losing Ryan's approval if he'd said no to the kiss. Instead Ryan went 90 of the hundred with his forehead, and Wally went the other ten with his.

Neither spoke, just enjoying the peaceful moment.

…

Bart slid into his house from the back door. The adrenalin from fighting Amazo had long since worn off, but he still felt warm inside about knowing Roy was looking out for them. When Speedy had first met him he'd been as cold as Robin. Now he was more like an older cousin. Same with Aqualad. Robin, though, still held a lot of resentment towards him for taking Wally's place as Kid Flash. Bart then noticed the kitchen light on.

"Wally?" He whispered as he rounded the corner.

"Wha- no baby, *yawn* s'just me." His mom leaned over the counter still wearing the outfit from her secretary job. "It's one thirty in the morning hon, he's probably asleep."

"You should be too, Mom."

"Hmn, we all should be." Bart helped his mother upstairs and into her room before heading to the bathroom, stripping down, and taking a quick shower. When he went to his room he found that his mom had taken over his bed that was just a bit too small for her. So it was one of those nights for her then. Not having the heart to move her he quietly took some pjs from his dresser and put them on in the hallway. He was far to sore to sleep on the couch, and he didn't feel comfortable sleeping in his mom's bed, so he decided he'd just curl up with Wally. It wasn't as if it was unusual for his brother to find him in his bed in the mornings.

Of course, it **was** unusual to find Wally's door locked. Wally never locked his door. Ever. Well, not since… Bart started to panic a little as memories of the past flashed through his mind of the last time Wally had ever needed to lock his door. He'd been so young at the time he'd honestly believed his brother when he told him that it was a monster banging on the door of their tiny bedroom, which was more of a walk in closet with sleeping bags. He'd believed that it was a monster who was hitting the door so hard it's frame creaked. He'd believed it wasn't their father who was slurring drunken obscenities and threats at them through the hole he'd punched last time he'd been this intoxicated. Bart had to get into Wally's room now. Even if it was just to check to see if his brother was safe.

He sped to the downstairs office, and began to rummage through a desk for the key.

"Mrow." Bart froze. He looked over his shoulder to see a stripey cat sitting in the shoulder high bookshelf next to the door. Bart knew that cat. Shit, but if that cat was here then that means **he** was here too. Bart hurriedly found the key, and zoomed back up to Wally's room. Once had it unlocked he threw open the door. The dim light from the hall barely made the two forms on the bed visible. One had immediately startled awake when the door was thrown open, and the other one, who was on top, groggily mumbled. More upset by the teen underneath him moving than the door.

"Bart!" Wally managed to sit up even with Ryan still over him like a human blanket. All Bart registered was that his brother was topless.

"GET OFF HIM!" Bart didn't hold back his powers when he moved to the bed and shoved Ryan off Wally with inhuman speed. The force sending Ryan slamming into Wally's shelves. Several academic trophies fell, a couple of them breaking.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Bart didn't have time, not even with his super speed, to respond before he was on the ground, unconscious. The red flash of light that had hit him left fizzles of magic running over Ryan's hand that send soft, rosy shadows over the room. Wally slowly moved his gaze from his brother to Ryan. Ryan slowly moved his gaze from Bart to Wally. Both boys were slack-jawed and wide eyed. Ryan tried to swallow the lump in his throat while the silence was almost comically filled with Wally's mother's snoring.

As Klarion saw it, he had three options. One, knock out Wally, and erase his memory. Two, just kidnap him, and worry about the details later. Or three, teleport himself and Teekle out of there, and hope that Wally wouldn't alert the authorities.

He chose option three.

Wally sat still for a couple seconds in shock before getting up, tucking Bart into his bed after a quick check over, and then proceeding to go down to the kitchen, still wearing nothing but his pajama pants, and having a mini panic attack. His whole body had somehow managed to go stiff while hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably on the floor. He needed a moment, or twelve, to just freak out before he starting rocking and trying to think things through. He had just confessed romantic interest in a guy he had known for roughly a month. Okay, that's fine. Plenty of relationships move quickly when both parties are interested. Perfectly normal. Perfectly fine. He had fallen asleep shirtless with said guy, who the more he thought about the more he realised he knew nothing about, but they hadn't done anything sexual! Hell, he hadn't even gotten to see Ryan naked- and THIS WAS HARDY THE TIME FOR THAT!

"Breath deep Wally, breathe deep." He began pacing around the first floor of the house as he searched his head for explanations. What Ryan did was a meta power, it had to be. Some kind of electrical pulse that temporarily frazzled his brother's brain and left him unconscious. But what about the portal? And where did Tea go. Well… he teleported Tea out with him… and… Grrr darn it! He couldn't think strait!

…

…

What if this wasn't about him? A meta human, who the league clearly doesn't know of, who Wally had been talking to nonstop for a month and knew nothing substantial about… Was all to suspicious. How badly had Wally fucked up?

…

Dick grumbled as he sat up to answer his phone. He would have ignored it if the song hadn't been the Sonic the hedgehog theme song, Wally's ringtone.

"Dude, it's like three in the morning…"

"I know, Dick, and I'm sorry, but I need your help." Dick sat up at hearing the worry in Wally's voice.

"What do you need?" The other side of the phone was quiet save for some shuffling like Wally was nervous to speak.

"...I need you to help me find someone. I-I think- shit man- I just…" Wally sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Wally, I need you to calm down and think clearly. Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?"

"I'm at my house… Yes, and- and my brother, he got hit with something weird. He's asleep and I just put him in my bed. I don't know what to do." Dick was out of bed and dressed now.

"Okay, Wally, I'm going to get Bruce-"

"No!"

"Wally, I know you're scared, and the Bat is scary, but if Bart has been hit with something strange, you don't know the effects of, we need to get him to the cave."

"..."

"Wally."

"I know… okay…"

"Okay." Dick ran into Bruce's bedroom. "Bruce!" Immediately his mentor was awake and on high alert.

"What is it?"

"Wally, something's happened. They've been attacked." Bruce was headed for the batcave before Robin stopped him. "I don't think they're there anymore, Wally didn't seem to be in immediate danger."

"Right," Bruce nodded, "low profile." The two started down for the garage that held the normal cars. "Still, we should contact Flash, just in case."

"I know Wally, and calling the Flash would make this worse. He's already on the verge of shutting down, and we need him to talk to us." They were in one of Bruce's black cars and off to Star city before three thirty.

…

Wally sat in a chair next to Dick while Bruce looked over Bart. All four of them were in the batcave. It was four in the morning and Bart still hadn't woken up.

"Can you describe the attacker?"

"He was, I don't know… it was dark, and fast. All I know is it was a guy, he hit Bart with some red energy, and teleported out," Wally lied.

"Do you think Bart was his target?"

"Maybe? Well, probably. He only attacked him so, yeah."

"You're doing a good job staying calm, Wally," Bruce complimented. "Your brother seems fine, but I'm going to take him to league headquarters to be sure. I'm going to have you stay here with Dick to look through the profiles of several known criminals who could be suspects. Do you want to talk to your uncle?"

"... Once I know that Bart's okay, please." Bruce nodded and left through a zeta tube with Bart. Once he was gone Wally broke down on Dick. His friend held him close as he sobbed. Dick didn't say anything. He just rubbed Wally's back in a comforting way like he'd done when they were children. This went on for a while before Wally calmed down. When he did Dick carefully led him to the batcomputer. They sat in Bruce's chair, which was big enough for both of them.

"We don't expect you to find the guy in here, just put together a group of people it could be, or look similar to who you saw. Everyone I'm going to show you is either known to be in the area, has some sort of energy attack, teleportation capabilities, or has a grudge against the Flash. Just stop me when you see someone, or you become overwhelmed." Dick began cycling through the profiles. Wally pointed once or twice to indicate that this person could have been the attacker, but for the most part he remained unmoving. That is, until they came to the profile of Klarion Bleak. Wally sucked in a breath and stiffened immediately. "Is he the guy?" Dick asked, hoping he wasn't. If Klarion had targeted Kid they had major problems.

"No…" Dick wanted to be relieved, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Wally wasn't telling him everything. The way he looked at Klarion's picture with an expression of betrayal touched Dick in a bad way.

…

Flash got to the tower just as Batman was finishing a conversation with someone over his earpiece, and he was pissed.

"Why didn't you call me immediately?!"

"Flash, you need to remain calm-"

"I will **not** remain calm! Those are my nephews who got attacked! I could have been there faster!"

"Wally didn't call you for help. He called Dick, and if you're done freaking out the situation just got worse."

"WORSE?! How could this possibly get any worse?!"

"Robin just called, there's a chance the attack was magical. I already contacted Giovanni Zatara." He put a hand on Flash's shoulder. "He's going to be fine, but you need to be strong. For Bart and Wally. Is their mother safe?"

"Yeah," Flash answered, calming down some, "I dropped her and Iris off at the hall."

"Good. You should head down to the batcave and talk to Wally. I'll keep you up to date on Bart's condition."

"Right, thanks Batman." Barry sped to the Batcave, only pausing to let the zeta tube teleport him. He was up behind the Bat's chair less than a second after he arrived. "Wally-" His nephew jumped and let out a small squeak in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, pal" Wally said nothing. "Hey, look at me." Flash pleaded gently, but Wally just curled in on himself further. It hurt Barry to see his oldest nephew like this. Acting like he did when he was little. When Barry first met him it was at a police station. Bart had been crying in the arms of his mother, who rocked him while trying to contain her own tears. Wally sat in a corner by himself. He was like that for a long time. He ignored everyone who wasn't Bart, and tolerated his mother's presence. It took Barry years to develop a close relationship with him, but now Wally was closing his gates again all because Barry had failed to protect them. Robin whispered something to Wally before leading Flash of to explain the situation out of earshot.

Wally wasn't going to talk to Barry because Barry was Bart's mentor. Bart should talk to him, not Wally. Wally was struggling with the fear that he might be as broken as his mother.

…

"Why are we having this meeting in **my** house?" Klarion scouled. He was sitting in a large, ornate red chair with Teekle in his lap. The other members of the light sat around him in similar furniture.

"I have a question as well: why are we here so early? I need my beauty sleep, and talking with a bunch of business partners at **five in the morning** really cuts into that," Queen Bee spoke bitingly.

"We needed somewhere secure, and Klarion's house is kept in his own personal pocket dimension, so it's perfect. As for the timing: it was urgent. Our base on infinity island has been breached," Savage explained.

"By the league?" Ra' a ghul asked.

"By a lone hero who has disassociated himself with the league." Savage held out a cube that projected an image of Roy in the middle of the room. "He goes by Ged Arrow now, but he was once known as Speedy. He singlehandedly infiltrated the base, stole Dr. Rocet, and escaped. This cannot stand."

"Why? We already have her device finished! Let's just use it and move on with the plan!"

"The problem, Klarion," Brain supplied, "Is that she could stop the device before it completes its ultimate goal."

"So we kill her." Black Manta stated simply "This still fails to explain heightened security."

"The justice League has been on high alert as of late. I don't know all of the details, but from what I've gathered one of the sidekicks was attacked in their home and has remained in a coma for three days."

"Please, if any of us had done it that child would have been dead, not in a coma."

"Thank you Queen," Sports master interrupted, "but back to the matter at hand. My daughter and I can handle the Rocet problem."

"Very well, we will proceed with the plan as scheduled." Savage looked over the group as if asking if anyone had anything else to say.

"Great, are we done here?"

"Yes, Witch boy, we are done." After Klarion heard Savage say that he snapped his fingers and teleported everyone back to wherever they'd come from.

*Mrrow.* " _Why do you spare him like this?_ " Klarion hung his head and pouted like a scolded child. " _You're a lord of chaos now. You can't continue to show so much restraint."_ *Hiisss* _"It's unhealthy."_

"I know, but- AUGH! EVERY TIME I EVEN CONSIDER HURTING HIM I JUST CAN'T! I **can't**."

 _"Then just take him."_

"What if he hates me for it Teekle?"

 _"Are you honestly just going to agonise over this forever? Or are you going to do something about it?"_ As much as Teekle loved her boy she was always reminded how idiotic and annoying he could be at the worst of times.

"...What if…" Klarion spoke more to himself than Teekle. He got up, and she jumped to the armrest. The witch boy's face twisted into a demonic expression as a plot formed in his mind. "What if I traded his freedom for reawakening his brother?"

*Purr* _"Now we're getting somewhere."_ As the plan unfolded before him in his imagination Klarion began to laugh. This would be perfect. Wally **would** be his.

 **Things got dark fast, but will only be getting more M from here on out. If you have any suggestion, or wishes, please let me know.**


	4. Spider Webs

**Warning: power writing occurred. This might be crap.**

" _...I hope Kid's alright."_

 _"Red Tornado is looking after him, Miss M. I'm sure he'll be fine,"_ Aqualad reassured. What remained of the young justice initiative were stationed around the school where Dr. Rocet was working on a virus for her invention, the fog.

 _"And once we find the guy who hurt him, I'm gonna make him wish he was never born,"_ Superboy somehow managed to growl through the mind link.

" _So, I know I'm knew and all, but would any of you mind telling me what happened to mini Flash?"_

 _"Well_ ," Miss Martian started, not sure how to really answer Artemis's question when no one really knew. " _Kid was attacked, and according to Zatara he's trapped in a magical coma. He's not hurt, but he can't wake up."_

 _"We have magic users on the league, can't one of them wake him up?"_

 _"They already tried,"_ Robin stated simply.

…

Wally had skipped the first few days of school to stay by Bart's side at the young justice headquarters. No one had been successful in making him leave thus far, and Robin had barely convinced him to eat and drink. Sleep was done when for a few hours only when he passed out from exhaustion. Wally was weak both physically as well as mentally. Bart never so much as flinched in his sleep. The wires that went in and out of him looked like a plastic web in Wally's delirious state. His little brother was the fly caught helplessly in it, awaiting a spider to end it's suffering. When Wally slept he became the fly. His web was spun of red pulsing threads, and the spider that came for him smelled like herbs, blood, and strawberry.

One time, he'd let the spider near him in the dream. The large arachnid took his jaw between its hands with a gentleness that was sickeningly sweet. It's pressed their lips together as the guise of a spider started to melt off. Wally had let his eyes close when the spider prodded his lips with it's tongue. He had felt drunk, dirty, and bizarrely blissful when he'd willingly let the spider's slippery tongue into his mouth. When he opened his eyes he didn't see the spider, but Klarion Bleak, holding him like he was something truly precious. Wally woke up and found that he'd bitten his lip in his sleep. He hadpassed out kneeling on the floor with his head on his brother's bed, and his blood left a small red splotch on Bart's white sheets.

…

"Her mask," Aqualad remarked as he bent down to get it. "Did you see her face?"

"No, it was dark." Artemis looked down. Both her body and voice betrayed how upset she was to Aqualad. He couldn't help but see himself in her.

"It is fine. Robin and superboy neutralized the fog, and Dr. Rocet is safe, thanks in no small part to you." Artemis turned around slightly to look at him. "Welcome to the team."

"I've always wanted a sister-here on earth I mean, I have twelve back on mars, but trust me it's not the same." Miss Martian flew over to shake Artemis's hand.

"I wouldn't know," Artemis lied through her teeth, "I- thanks."

One day, a threat from Red Arrow, and a training session later Artemis was finally getting a tour of the cave.

"So that's the apartments, bathrooms, training areas, kitchen, library… anywhere else you want to see?" Miss martian asked as she happily floated next to Artemis, the boys just behind them.

"Um… do you have a medbay?" Miss Martian visibly cringed at the question before looking to Aqualad. He glanced around to each of the other members before looking back at Artemis.

"I think it's time you met the whole team." Silently they made their way to the first room of the medbay, and Robin quietly knocked on the door.

"I thought Kid Flash was out cold."

"He is, but Wally isn't." Just after Robin said that the door slid open to reveal a rumpled ginger who would have stood just above Artemis if he hadn't have been slouching. "Wally, this is our new member, Artemis. Artemis this is Kid's older brother, Wally." Artemis reached out her hand to the boy, who despite looking a bit worse for wear she couldn't help but find pretty cute.

"A pleasure to meet you, I'm Green Arrow's niece." He looked down at her hand before shaking it.

"Wally," he sighed, "I'm the Flash's nephew." He couldn't help but see expectation in her eyes. "Don't think that just because you came here you can see my brother," he spat, glaring at her, "He isn't a sideshow attraction so buzz off, Replacement." Artemis took a step back in shock.

"Wally," Robin interjected, "she's part of your brother's team-"

"And I'm his family! Just because she's been brought in to replace Speedy doesn't mean she can come in here and ogle at my brother while he's dying!" Tears prickled at the corners of Wally's eyes.

"He isn't dying, Wally. We **will** save him."

"When Kaldur?! Tomorrow? Next week?! Never!?" Wally's shoulders started to shake. "He gets weaker everyday, he never moves, I finished all my first semester homework and you guys just went on a mission to save the world! NONE OF US ARE GETTING ANY CLOSER TO SAVING HIM!"

"Wally, I think you need some fresh air," Robin said as he grabbed Wally's shoulder and tried to steer him away from the room.

"NO! I need to be here for him!" Superboy grabbed him this time.

"He's not the only one wasting away!" Wally stopped struggling when Superboy said that. "Your brother would be angry to see you like this." And with that Wally was dragged out of the cave by Kon.

"Man…" Artemis wasn't sure whether or not she envied Kid Flash for having a sibling who cared so much.

"Yeah, the Flash brothers are protective like that," Robin explained as he waved Artemis into the room. She felt like she could understand Wally a bit better when she saw what a vulnerable state Kid was in. A feeding tube was down his throat, and oxygen tube ran under his nose, at least four machines were monitoring his various functions, and a magic circle pulsed on the ceiling.

"What's that for?" She pointed up at the circle.

"That monitors the spell that keeps him under. Apparently as long as it shines bright the spell is still going strong."

"Has it dimmed any since-"

"No."

…

"So you've had the old fart for weeks, and you can't get a thing out of him?"

"Well I haven't seen you doing anything productive recently."

"I have a life outside of villainy, stupid."

"You won't be able to find the helmet without my help!"

"Wrong! I won't be able to find the helmet without his help." Klarion looked over to the tired old man Abra had tied up in a chair. It made him feel sour that this guy had been the lord of order who had managed to kill his predecessor. That was the only reason he hated him though. It wasn't a game anymore when the players started dying. Klarion teleported them to an abandoned theater, took a seat in the front row, and let Teekle run off to do guard the perimeter.

"Why are we here?"

"This theater is just outside the tower, once his Nabu's friends come to save Kent they'll open it for us." Abra stood awkwardly on stage with the old man. Klarion couldn't believe this was the best the light could pair him up with. "Well don't just stand there!" he snapped, "Torture him some more!"

…

Aqualad and Superboy were sparring while Artemis and M'gann stood off to the side. Wally was there too, but he just scouled and stood in the corner in a very Superboy-ish manor. Robin had convinced him to take joggs outside, but he still wasn't sleeping or eating well.

"Kaldur's, uh, nice. Don't you think?" Artemis asked M'gann, "Handsome, commanding… You should totally ask him out." Wally could hear them, but he made no indication that he did. Man, was the new chick seriously trying to steal Supey from Miss M? It was a good thing the martian was to dumb to notice Artemis's attempt at steering her in another direction.

"He's like a big brother to me!" Miss M smiled, "But you know who would make the cutest couple? You and Wally!" Wally choked on the burrito he'd been nibbling on. Okay, maybe Miss M was just as bad as the new girl.

"Thanks, but I think Wally has bigger things on his mind than girls right now…" Artemis looked down and grinned. Shit, was she blushing? Did she seriously like being paired with him? It dawned on Wally That two months ago he would have fallen head over heels for a girl like that. Now, she just made his heart ache with regret for falling in love with the wrong guy at the wrong time. Did he sound like the protagonist in a dumb chick flick or what? Superboy flipped Kaldur on his back, winning the match. He smiled and said something to the atlantean, but Wally couldn't hear it from where he was standing.

Just then, Red Tornado came down from wherever it has he spent his time, and headed for the door.

"Hi! Do you have a mission for us?" MIss M asked excitedly as she started floating over to him.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility."

"But you're headed somewhere, right? Maybe we could.. tag along?"

"If we can be of help," Aqualad added to Miss Martian's question. Wally imagined that if Red Tornado had eyes he would have rolled them, but the bot still turned around and activated a holo-screen to debrief them. The screen displayed an old man with a golden tipped cain.

"This is Kent Nelson. A friend. He is 106 years old."

"Guy doesn't look a day over 90." Wally whispered to Artemis, who tried to look like she didn't care, but her cheeks still turned pink at the attention.

"And he was been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the justice society, the precursor to your mentor's justice league." As Red Tornado spoke the image of Kent Nelson was covered in slowly with blocks until he became Dr. Fate.

"Of course," Aqualad marved, "Nelson was earth's sorcerer supreme! He was Dr Fate!"

"Yes, Kent may simply be on one of his… walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the helmet of fate, the source of the doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded."

"He is like the great sorcerer priest and priestesses of mars!" M'gann exclaimed, "I would be honored to help find him!"

"Take this," Red Tornado held out a funky looking key, "it is the key to the tower of fate." Aqualad was the one to take the key.

"So, question:" Wally asked, "Where are they looking for him at?"

"The tower of fate."

"And that is?" Red Tornado put a map up on the screen.

"You are aware that you cannot accompany them-"

"Yeah, I know," Wally said as he turned to head back to Bart's room, "I just wanted to know."

…

"Grant us access to the tower and I promise an end to your suffering." Teekle padded down the aisle as Abra spoke. She hated how at this point the phoney magician sounded more like he was pleading with Kent than threatening him. "Continue to refuse and-" Kent was zapped again for example. Teekle jumped into her laughing witch boy's lap, he stoked her absentmindedly.

"Mro- _We have gue-_ "

"Shush Teekle! I'm watching the show."

"Enjoy it, *huff* while you can," Kent spoke as he caught his breath, "Soon enough my friends will- GRAH!" Abra zapped him again.

"Ha ha! Encore encore! Ha ha ha!" Klarion stood up and started clapping. "Or you poor old man," he said without an ounce of care in his voice. "You don't have any 'friends'. The pesky league only cares about Nabu. In fact, the only person who cared about Kent Nelson is loooong dead. So why do you even bother?"

"One day," he looked down at Klarion, still with that dumb "mightier than thou" expression he had even without the helmet, "You'll care about something."

"So?" Klarion smiled maliciously, "Was that a threat?"

"I hope it dies in your arms." Kent spat before Abra electrocuted him again.

"ROWaor! _Klarion, the sidekicks are here!_ HISS _with the key, no doubt!_ "

"Ohhh!"

…

Wally was having that dream again. He was back in Klarion's web, but this time Klarion was human, and instead of crawling ominously towards him to end his life he was standing over him. He looked down at Wally a]nd held his cat. Wally was flat on his back starfished out on web, but he wasn't scared. It was one of those weird dream things where dream him knew more than he did, and dream him somehow knew that even though he was trapped he held all the power right now.

"... Why me?" Wally asked.

"Ditto."

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second," Dream Klarion smiled warmly like Ryan had.

"Pfft," Wally's chest hurt. A dream shouldn't hurt this much. "You're so mean."

"I'm sorry."

"No you aren't," Wally criticized him without any real bite in his words, "You're just saying that because this is a dream, and that's what I want you to say."

"How would you know? You never stop to think how I felt. How I **am** feeling."

"You. Are. Evil."

"And you. Are. A. Hypocrite," Dream Klarion pouted, "The world isn't so black and white, Wallace. You know that."

"What if I do then?! What if I care about you?! You don't care about me!"

"I told you I did, didn't I?"

"No, the other Klarion did!"

"And doesn't that mean even more coming from him?" Klarion was back to smiling, but Wally's vision was going hazy with tears. Fuck, he wanted the real Klarion! He wanted to punch him in his dumb face for all the shit he's put him through. He wanted to make him fix Bart. He wanted that kiss he'd dreamt of. Wally closed his eyes. He felt like he was spinning, and expected to have fallen off his brother's bad and hit his head when he woke up in the cave.

But where he woke up at wasn't the cave. And it was flipping cold!

…

"Wait!" Artemis panicked, "The back draft from the lava will roast us-" Snow blew out of the hatch. "O.K. never mind." Aqualad smiled at her. She was so excitable for one who acted so tough. They jumped through, and landed sideways. The hatch closed up behind them without a trace.

"Wally?!" Everyone turned when they heard what Miss Martian said, and sure enough there was Wallace West freezing his butt off if the tower.

"Guys! Oh thank god you're here! Where is here actually?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Aqualad said, as surprised as the others. "Did you follow us?"

"No, how could I? You took Miss M's ship here! I fell asleep, had a weird dream, and woke up here!"

"What's that?" Superboy interrupted. Everyone turned again to see a gold tipped staff floating behind Wally.

" **That** … was not here before you guys came." He reached for it just as Artemis came running up to get it. "I got it," He said, just a second before Artemis could grab it, "Wait! I can't let go!" The staff glowed and shot up with Wally hanging on to it before disappearing. The remaining four looked between each other cluelessly.

…

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Klarion's droning finally got to Abra. He grabbed Nelson's shoulder, and removed he silencing collar.

"Tell us how to find the helmet!"

"Can't, having too much fun!" Kent grinned. Abra growled and zapped him again.

"Still having fun?"

"Huhu! I am! Zap him again, oh, or dump him off the side and watch him splat!" Abra chose to zap him some more.

"Maow"

"Ah, yes yes, I suppose we might still need him." Klarion absentmindedly pet Teekle who was up on his shoulder before a bright, golden light shone behind them. Klarion's eyes grew comically large when he saw his Wally with Nelson's staff.

"Well, would you look at that," Kent grinned. The staff glowed, and so did Nelson. He floated to the staff, grabbed it, it's glow spread to his bonds and broke them, and then he appeared an elevator door which he shoved Wally inside and shut.

"No, NO, NO!" Klarion screamed, "He's mine! Mine, MINE, MINE, **MINE!** " Klarion shot out red bolts of rage at where the door had been.

Meanwhile, inside the elevator Wally could feel them moving up as soft music played.

"... I'm Kent Nelson by the way."

"Wally West. Uh, does this happen a lot?"

"You new to the hero seen kid?"

"Oh, no sir," Wally held up his hands and shook his head, "I'm no hero. My brother is. I don't even know how I got here." Kent looked at him curiously before cracking a warm smile.

"I'll tell you what brought you here, kid. Magic. I can tell you only recently began to believe, but the more you do the more it will awaken to you. You've got natural talent!"

"Oh. right like Abra Kadabra? Please, the guy uses advanced technology to simulate magic! Guys all show and no bizz." Wally crossed his arms.

"Right you are."

"I.. am?" Wally had expected Kent to argue with him like Klarion had.

"Yes, Abra **is** a charlatan, but Klarion the witch boy, the kid with the cat, he's an actual lord of chaos. The ultimate enemy of a lord of order like Dr. Fate."

"And you're a … lord of order?"

"Oh, no, not me. I'm just an old coat Fate used to put on, but I don't expect one such as yourself to understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's like this, imagine if your brother could never stop being a hero. Imagine if his hero side was a separate person controlling his body. He'd be trapped as a bystander watching someone else restlessly use his body for justice. He'd watch from the back of his mind as his life ticked by, and do nothing about it." Wally did imagine it, and the thought scared him. Kent pulled out a pocket watch, and looked at the picture it held lovingly. "I was like that until my wife, Inza, convinced me there could be more to life. Ah, she was a real pistol that Inza. Anywho! Klarion's after the helmet. If he gets his sticky little mitts on it he'll destroy Fate and turn the world into his own personal playground of pandemonium." The elevator doors slid open to reveal a place exactly like the one they just left save that this area had a giant bell in the middle. The pair approached the bell before a door materialised above them. It opened, dropped Aqualad, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Superboy behind them, athen disappeared. "Friends of yours?"

*zap* Wally and Kent dodged Abra's lightning.

"Friend's of yours?" Wally asked rhetorically while hurrying Nelson behind the giant bell. Abra began shooting at the young justice members while Kent raised his staff and struck the bell. It rang out and shook. Klarion took off flying at it when it glowed that classic Dr. Fate golden. He made it through the bell just after Kent and Wally. A bright flash and all three of them were at the top of the tower. There floated the helmet of Fate. Kent reached for it, but was shot down by a red beam.

"GAH!"

"Mr. Nelson!" Wally caught him, but the old man shoved himself up, and raised a barrier just before Klarion's next attack hit.

"NOooooOOOOo!" the witch boy screamed. Nelson turned back to look at Wally weakly.

"Not bad for a former Dr. Fake, eh kid?" Kent collapsed onto Wally who gently helped him to the ground.

"You're not a fake! Please, I believe! I really do, but I need you to help me!" Kent put a hand on Wally's arm to try to calm him down.

"The bubble will give you enough time to do what you need to do."

"I have no idea what I need to do!" Kent pulled out his pocket watch and showed Wally the picture of Inza.

"Have faith in what you can't explain," the old man wheezed, "Believe in what you can no longer deny." Kent's head rolled back and his arm went limp. Wally did the only thing he could think of, chest compressions. Klarion continued to attack the bubble each of his attacks sounded like the scratch of a vinyl record.

"That force field won't hold forever, Wallace!" Klarion threw a particularly powerful attack that engulfed the whole bubble in red light. Wally was panicking now. He looked over at Nelson's floating staff, which was burning in golden flames from the bottom up, to Klarion. Maybe he could try to talk him down. The Klarion he knew had been reasonable, but it didn't look like Ryan was here right now as Klarion viciously attacked the bubble. He looked to the helmet, remembering what Nelson had said.

 _"Wally,"_ he startled when Miss Martian's voice echoed through his head, _"we're in trouble! Tell Kent we need Dr. Fate!"_ He saw an image of his friends being caught in electrical cages. They were all groaning in pain. The image cut off when Miss M was caught in her own electrical cage. Wally gasped when he was back in his current situation. Klarion reached out two huge red hands with wicked talons that dug into the bubble. He looked back at the witch boy who already wore a victorious smile. Wally glared back. He stood up and plucked the helmet from the air.

"WALLY!" Klarion's face shifted to panic, "You put that on you may never get it off!" He ripped away the force field, but Wally was no longer listening. He donned the helmet, and- silence. Wally was in a quiet, dark room standing under a stage light.

"Okay, okay. What is going on?"

"We're in the helmet." Wally spun around to see Kent Nelson standing with his cane.

"You?! But you, you're- dude you died!"

"Yup, but don't feel bad. Once this little brouhaha is over my spirit will ascend, and I'll be reunited with my beloved Inza."

"Uh, oh-okay. Wait! Does that mean that I-"

"Oh you're still alive, but your soul no longer controls your body. You put it on, and my soul got sucked in. Probably because I spent so many years serving its master."

"Master?"

"Nabu, the real Dr. Fate. One of them lords of order I told you about. He's the guy controlling your body now." Kent patted Wally on the shoulder. "Wanna watch?"

Nabu held up an ankh shield as Karion pelted it with fire balls.

"Give him back Nabu! Order went out of style in the twentieth century!"

"This battle is pointless!" Nabu's voice rumbled under Wally's own as Dr. Fate spoke, "You sought to take the helmet before it gained a host, but you are to late."

"Shut it, ya old fart!" Klarion summoned two stone pillars to grab Nabu, but the lord of order broke free.

"Brat." He shot down a beam of golden energy that Karion pretended to be obliterated by, only to materialize behind him and electrocute Nabu.

"Gah!" Wally fell to his knees. His back felt raw. "What gives?!"

"Well," Kent replied, "it is your body."

"Yeah, and I don't want him doing something **I'll** regret!"

"Sorry kid, doesn't work that way, but you can see why I haven't put on the helmet in 65 years."

*boom* The battle had continued while they were talking, and Klarion now had Nabu pinned under a massive bolt of red lightning.

"You're not in sync with your host Nabu! Surrender and let him go before I rip your parasitic life force from his body!"

"That's what I fail to understand." Nabu released and explosion of energy. When the dust cleared he stood in a ring of golden flame. "Why do you want this boy?"

"Because he's mine!"

"You have more important things to think of right now don't you?" Klarion growled and raised a shield, but Nabu's blast went passed him. It narrowly missed Teekle who was still shot back by the force of it.

" **Teekle!** " Both Wally and Klarion yelled in shock and anger. Klarion turned on Dr. Fate, about to give that kitty hater a piece of his mind when he stopped. Dr. Fate was clutching his head in agony. Wally was fighting Nabu!

"How dare you use my body to hurt her!"

"Insolent child!" Nabu's helmet appeared in the dark area Wally was trapped in. "That creature is no cat! Without his familiar Klarion has no anchor in this reality."

"You think I want that?!"

"This is not about what you want-" Wally jumped up and grabbed the helmet.

"Wallace, what are you doing?!" Kent started to fade as his soul ascended.

"I'm taking back my body!" Outside the helmet Klarion watched Dr. Fate take his helmet by the eye holes and pull. It began to glow hot. Becoming like molten metal, but not burning Wally. The ginger's eyes were closed as he used all his might to strip Nabu from his body. He could hear the sorcerer supreme scream in agony as his presence bubbled like the globs of molten metal in Wally's hands. With one final pull Wally stripped what was left of the helmet of fate off him. His eyes finally opened to reveal an emerald glow that radiated raw magical power. Wally only had time to glance at Klarion before the liquified helmet turned the same glowing green as his eyes and began climbing to his face like a herd of slugs on speed. "Klarion! Hel-" The molten helmet forced it's way down his mouth and nose. Klarion found himself running to help his Wally, but was forced back by a golden ankh. It rose into the air before being consumed by emerald flames. The flames receded, and left a new symbol hanging in the air. An emerald green clover with a sword horizontally piercing it through the middle. Wally and Klarion stared up at ot till it fizzled into sparks and dissipated. Both the boys them looked down at each other.

"Wally!" Superboy punched through the top of the tower, the rest of the team jumped up after him. Wally had no way to explain what just happened to his friends, but once again it was like Klarion read his mind. The witch boy doubled over in, what was clear to Wally as over dramatic, pain.

"Curse you stupid brat!" Klarion shook his fist at Wally, "You may have gotten lucky, but I still won!" He grabbed Teekle and teleported away. Wally's friends were left staring in shock.

"What happened?" asked Artemis as she ran towards him.

"I-" Wally collapsed to his knees, "don't…" he fell unconscious.

 **Why do my chapters always end up longer than I meant them to be? Thanks for reading, if I did something poorly feel free to tell me. Same if you want something to happen. I am open to suggestions.**


	5. Deal?

**I keep trying to make this dark, but I also keep failing.**

Superboy was sitting in front of the T.V. watching static. He liked to look at each pixel individually, but today his thoughts were on the West brothers. Wally hadn't woken up in two weeks, and Bart's spell continued to show no signs of getting weaker. They were practically his family, but he couldn't do anything for them.

"Would you like me to turn that on?" Miss Martian, who was about to make dinner, asked.

"No."

"Well… would you like to help me make dinner?"

"No," Kon answered as he stood up to go help her. He really didn't want to, but he did want to distract himself, and Miss Martian was nothing if not distracting. She smiled as if he was doing this for her.

"Let's see," she turned around and levitated her cookbook in the air, "um, we're gonna need some brown sugar," The cabinet next to Kon's head opened, and the bag of brown sugar floated into his hands, "uhh-a little butter," Superboy caught the butter when it flew to him, "some salt, coconut oil, vinegar," the ingredients started flying at him faster, "a few eggs, a couple tomatoes, some milk a bowl of flour, and-"

*crash* Miss Martian turned around to see Superboy wearing the ingredients she had practically thrown at him.

"Oops." She levitated a towel to her hand and began uselessly padding at her mess with it. "I'm so sorry, I should pay more attention! It was too much at once, too much at once, heh heh, hello Megan! That's so me…" She looked up into Superboy's eyes and her mind went from 100 to zero in mach 20, "I- uh.." Superboy looked down at her through the flour, milk, and oil caking his hair and face. How could such a small girl cause such calamity? It was almost sad.

Footsteps echoed down the hall and the two quickly separated. When Wally walked in Miss Martian was furiously chopping onion. Superboy sat ramrod straight watching static while covered in ingredients. Neither seemed to recognize that it was him so he cleared his throat, and sure enough once they saw him both the teens were at his side immediately.

"Wally! You're awake!"

"It's good to see you, what happened?"

"OMG! I have to tell Artemis right away!"

"Do you know you've been out for two weeks?"

"Hey, do you-"

"Two weeks?!" Wally cut off Miss Martian, "What happened?"

"That is what the league would like to know," Red Tornado said as he came up behind them from the direction Wally had entered.

…

"Yes!" Dick exclaimed when he finally managed to get a basket. "Bruce! Did you see-" Dick stopped when he saw his mentor listening to his communicator instead of paying attention. They had been playing basketball for almost an hour. It was great to finally get his mind off Wally and Bart for some time.

"Alright," Bruce confirmed to whoever was on the other side of the conversation, "we'll be there soon."

"What's happening?"

"Wally's awake." Robin's heart soared at the news.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dick ran ahead of Bruce towards the cave. In seconds Bruce was running alongside him.

…

"..."

"..."

"It's my grampa's birthday today," Wally mentioned. He hated the silence that had ensued when Red Tornado told everyone to wait till Batman and Zatara got to the cave. By everyone, Tornado meant Miss Martian, Superboy, Wally, and Red Tornado himself. Artemis and Kaldur were home, and it was late. Technically Bart has there, but he was still in a coma, and since Zatara hadn't been able to do a proper magical check up on Wally when he was out he wasn't allowed to see his little brother.

"That's great Wally." Miss Martian tried to sound interested, but everyone could tell she was just waiting for the others to get here. Naturally, when the zeta tubes recognized Batman and Robin she perked up almost instantly. Robin walked behind Batman and clutched his fists like he wanted to run up to Wally, but the Bat had told him not to beforehand. Batman went straight to business.

"What do you remember, Wally?"

"I-" Wally crumpled under the Bat's gaze, "I woke up in some cold place. Im guessing the tower. I still don't know how I got there, but then the team showed up, and Nelson's cane popped up behind me." Wally shifted his weight nervously, "I grabbed it, but then I couldn't let go. It shot up into the air and dropped me next to Abra and Klarion."

"Sorry to stop you," Everyone's attention turned to see Giovanni Zatara walking towards them. Nobody had even heard him come in, "But I have a few questions."

"Y-yeah," Wally swallowed, "Go ahead."

"The night this happened, after the team returned, Kaldur told me you had a 'weird dream' before waking up in the tower. Could you tell me more about this dream?"

"Yeah, well, uh…" Wally couldn't lie because Miss M would know, but he might be able to leave a few things out. "Well, I was lying on my back in a web,"

"A spider web?" asked Zatara.

"Yes-"

"Was Klarion there?" How much did the magician know?!

"Yeah…"

"I see," he furrowed his brow like he was thinking hard before nodding to himself, "Continue with the main story, but skip to the part right before you went unconscious, right after Klarion killed Dr. Fate." Wally felt guilty at knowing that **he** had been the one to kill Nabu, but quickly hid that guilt hoping Miss Martian was keeping her brain to herself.

"Well, the helmet turned into this sort of goop, and it glowed green before crawling up into my mouth." He made a face at the memory akin to a four-year-old confronted with brussel sprouts. "Then there was fire, and this big green symbol in the sky. The team showed up. Klarion ran off. I passed out." Everyone seemed confused when Giovanni smiled with tears prickling the corners of his eyes. The man looked like he had just been told "congratulations: you're a father!" for pete's sake.

"We are so fortunate to have you Wallace!" the magician exclaimed before pulling the ginger into a hug. "In what could have been our darkest hour you have brought hope!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Wally pried Zatara off him and took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

"You! Honestly, it's a miracle you were there, no! Destiny! The magic brought you there because it sensed an imbalance about to occur-"

"That explains nothing!"

"Wallace-" Zatara put a hand on Wally's shoulder only for the teen to swat it off.

"Wally," The ginger corrected.

"Wally," Zatara smiled, "you are earth's new lord of order." Everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they heard this.

"M-me, but- I-I how? And WHY?!"

"The dream you had was prophetic, it was a vision of you facing the lord of chaos, and is a common occurrence among lords of order before they are chosen to succeed their predecessors.." Wally backed up. He would hardly consider the conversation he'd had with dream Klarion 'facing' him.

"But…. I don't have any-" Wally paused. Wait a minute, Nelson had said that he was a natural with magic. In fact, the old man had also said that it was magic that brought him to the tower, and encouraged him to put on the helmet… "Kent, he knew…"

"What was that, Wally?" Batman asked, but Wally was too lost in his thoughts to hear him. He wouldn't, **couldn't**! He couldn't be a lord of order because if he was then that meant Klarion was his mortal enemy.

"NO!" Wally screamed. He held his head as a thousand thoughts and images flashed through it. They pounded at his skull from the inside as if trying to escape.

"Wally!" Robin ran forward to try to help his friend, but when Wally looked over at him all he could see was Klarion. All he could see was the witch boy running towards him with fear in his eyes as the helmet forced it's way down his throat. Wally tried to dodge his best friend's touch, but ended up tripping and falling on his butt while still clutching his head in his hands. Everyone stood still as Wally shook on the floor. Fear held his heart. The ginger's eyes were wide, and he stared intensely at nothing. "Wally…" Robin tried again. This time the ginger took several deep breaths before looking up at the heros surrounding him.

"I wanna go home." Batman didn't let it show, but his heart hurt for the boy. Robin displayed his feelings quite a bit more when he dropped to his knees and hugged Wally. It wasn't a big overjoyed hug like Zatara had given, but a hug that reminded Wally that Dick understood his sorrow, if not the reason for it.

"Wally," Batman tried to speak gently, "why don't I call Flash? He can bring you back to his house where your mother is staying."

"No," Wally shook his head, "If that's my only other option I'd rather stay here." It wasn't that he didn't want to see his family, he was paranoid that they would find out what he was hiding and be disappointed in him. Good people don't fall for bad guys. They especially don't fall for super villains, and they certainly didn't have panic attacks when they found out they had become said supervillain's mortal enemy.

"Do you **want** me to call Flash?"

"No thanks, Batman," Wally stood up and started walking towards the infirmary while holding Dick's hand like a lifeline. Robin followed him without a word. "I'm going to go see Bart." Superboy and Miss Martian, who hadn't said anything this whole time because they really didn't know what they could say, followed them quietly while Batman, Zatara, and Red Tornado stayed behind to talk.

"So," Robin started as they rounded the corner into the hall Bart's room was in, "what really happened?" Wally ignored him and continued to Bart's room.

"Um, Wally?" Miss Martian tried to get his attention as she and Superboy came up behind them. Wally opened Bart's door, and once everyone had entered he locked it and turned to the three teens.

"How much do you know?" He glared at Miss Martian.

"I… what?"

"My mind! How much did you read?!"

"I- I can't," Miss M put her hands up to show she didn't want any trouble, "I haven't been able to read your mind since you woke up. Otherwise I would have sensed you coming down the hall earlier." Apparently that was a good thing because he let out a deep breath, and all his muscles relaxed.

"Wally, what is going on with you?" Robin stepped forward with his arms crossed. Superboy crossed his arms aswell while Miss Martian clasped her hands behind her back in a nervous manner. Wally chewed his lip and looked between his friends before sighing in defeat.

"You can't tell anyone."

"Can't tell anyone what Wally?" Miss Martian spoke quietly.

"You have to promise or I won't say." Wally tried to stand taller to make his point. The other three looked between one another, their faces moved like they were reacting to unspoken words. Wally instantly prickled. "And no mind links while you're in here!" Robin, Superboy, and Miss Martian shared one last look before nodding.

"Alright, Wally, I promise not speak a word of what is divulged here to to anyone ever," Robin promised.

"My lips are sealed," promised Superboy.

"Cross my heart and hope to die, Wally," Miss Martian promised as she traced a little x over her heart.

"...Ok." Wally took a deep breath, "I… have… fuuuck…" He wrapped his arms around himself and glanced at Bart. This was all going too far, he had to tell someone, and it was now or never. "I don't want to be a lord of order."

"Okay," Robin nodded calmly, "we've gathered that, but why? Most people would be ecstatic. You had a panic attack."

"I know," Wally stared at his feet like a scolded child, "...there's someone I was seeing until recently." Miss Martian gasped, but the boys hardly reacted. They waited for him to continue. "You can't be mad."

"Can't promise that, but I won't blame you."

"Same," Superboy simply agreed with Robin. Miss Martian was still freaking out that Wally liked someone who probably wasn't Artemis.

"So, who is it?" Robin seemed to lean towards Wally in anticipation.

"It's… a dude."

"Is that why we might be upset?"

"No, just don't say anything till I finish explaining." The three teens kept quiet and waited, "So I met this guy on the fourth of july, and he was super nice. He had introduced himself as Ryan. We hung out, everything was great. Then, well Kon was there when the whole 'Bart vs Ryan' thing happened." Robin raised his hand. "Yes?"

"What's the 'Bart vs Ryan' thing?"

"Um…" Wally scratched the back of his head and looked at the circle above Bart, "Bart didn't like Ryan so he picked a fight with him, swung at Ryan, and ended up getting clocked in the nose."

"Alright, uh, that's all I- just keep going with the story."

*deep breath* "Right! So, Ryan showed up to our house and apologized to Bart. After that everything went back to normal for a bit."

"Then something happened."

"Yes Robin!" Wally threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Sorry."

*mumble grumble* "Just wait till I'm done. This isn't easy."

"We're here for you Wally," Superboy offered, earning a sad smile from the ginger.

"Like I said, it was going good again, but then we confessed to each other, and he spent the night. We didn't, like, **do** anything, but he must have locked the door. I never do because sometimes Bart has… well, nightmares, and slides into bed with me, or just checks to make sure I'm there. But that night he barged in, panicking, and threw Ryan off the bed, and… and Ryan- christ don't be mad."

"We won't be mad Wally," Miss Martian reassured him this time. Wally swallowed hard when it hit Robin.

"Wait, was this the night Klarion attacked Bart?"

"Um, he- he didn't mean to." The others looked at Wally like he had just grown a second head. "He was half asleep and had just been thrown into a wall! The spell just sort of happened! Then he just got scared I guess, and ran."

"Oh no." Robin's words came out somewhere between a pained groan and a whisper.

"I don't follow…" Miss Martian interjected. Superboy didn't seem to be having much more luck in understanding what Wally had implied either. Robin, on the other hand, pinched the bridge of his nose in concentration. Wally chewed his lip nervously again.

"Are you mad?"

"No Wally, just- *sigh*" Robin looked up at his best friend, "I'm just really scared for you."

"Can someone please explain what's happening-"

"Ryan is Klarion, Miss M!" Robin turned on her.

"Oh," she squeaked and backed up to the wall. Superboy seemed shocked at first, then angry, and then deep in thought like he was struggling with something difficult to understand. Robin reached out and took Wally's hand. He ran his thumb over his best friend's knuckles in a very mother-like manor.

"Wally, you need to tell somebody-"

"I'm telling you!"

"And what can I do? I can't get you help, and trust me Wally," Dick put his free hand on Wally's shoulder, "I've seen what stockholm syndrome can do to somebody. This isn't just bad for you, Wally. This is dangerous for the whole world." Wally tore himself from Dick's grasp. Even if Robin had purposefully left out "because you're a lord of order" he still couldn't believe Dick would say he had a mental illness!

"If I wanted a lecture on what a fuck up I am I would have called my uncle! I don't need help! I just- just…"

"Your uncle is an experienced hero, right?" Superboy asked.

"Yes, but-"

"And Robin has seen this sort of thing before. If you'd getting presumably the same answer from both then maybe they have a point." Wally gave him a weak glare.

"Since when did you start respecting authority?" Kon only gave a small smile in response to the question.

"Besides," Miss Martian interjected with too much enthusiasm, "there are other people who **really** care about you. Like Artemis~!" Wally had no words for how pissed hearing that made him. Infact, his brain might have stopped working for a moment there. He just stared at her blankly. Her smile faltered a bit, but he doubted if she actually knew what she did wrong. Even suggesting that Klarion didn't actually love him made Wally want to die.

"...I'm going home."

"Wally, you can't just-"

"I'm going home, Robin, and if any of you," his eyes floated over the three heros, "tell **anyone** what was said here, and you won't just be dead to me. I'll leak league secrets." A weight fell over the room.

"You wouldn't."

"For this, Rob, I would." And with that Wally left the room.

…

"And at what point are you planning to crawl out of that whole you call home?" Vandal stood like a soldier in front of a mirror that connected him on a private line to Klarion.

"Soooo sorry to inconvenience you," The witch boy snarked with little to no interest as he typed away in a cell phone. Since when did lords of chaos even use phones? It was just one of the many strange things Klarion had been doing recently.

"What's really going on?"

"None of your beeswax."

"Klarion."

"Listen, I'm in the middle of something important." Klarion turned off the phone and glared at Savage through the mirror. "I'll play my part in the plan. Now shove off." And with that Klarion's image blipped off the mirror. Vandal couldn't help but suspect Klarion's behavior had something to do with the new lord of order. The witch boy was always busy now when before he was constantly moping about, and complaining about being bored. Still, Klarion did have a point: as long as he played his part in the plan he could do whatever he wanted on the side. It was none of Savage's business until it became a problem.

…

After taking the zeta tube back to Star city Wally walked home. The first breezes of fall left faint goose bumps on his arms, but it was still just a bit too warm for a jacket. As he left the city and entered the more suburban area where his house was his previous anger cooled. He didn't want to have to threaten them to keep his secret, but Wally knew that Robin would have at least told Batman, who would have told Giovanni and Flash. At best they'd make him take therapy, at worst uncle Barry would disown him, Giovanni would tell the league who would hate him, and Batman would cart his ass to arkam. Wally sighed with relief when his house came into view. He needed this right now. He just needed to be somewhere familiar and quiet that was his own.

Wally didn't have his house key on him so he quietly crept to the backyard, climbed the old ash tree, and crawled over his roof and into his window. After closing it and securing the latch on it he headed for the bathroom. Wally finally let his mind wander as he grabbed a towel to place on the rack by the shower. What was he going to do now? First, and most importantly, he needed to find a way to wake up Bart. Wally stripped off his shirt and looked in the mirror at himself. He had lost some muscle from lack of exercise and proper eating habits, but nothing going back to jogging wouldn't fix.

Maybe he could have Giovanni train him? Zatara had a daughter, right? Yeah, Zatanna Zatara, like a tongue twister. With three people's combined powers they should be able to break the spell on Bart. Wally finnished striping. He stepped into the shower before turning it on so cold water struck him first. The water slowly warmed as Wally's attention turned to his other issue: Klarion.

" _Alright Wally,_ " he thought to himself, " _let's do a pro-con comparison. Pros, he's fun, he's funny, I- I just like being around him! Like, yes, he's hot, in both forms, and yes, he seems nice, but can you really trust him?"_ Wally washed himself off as he continued negotiating with himself. _"What if we just talked to him? Please,"_ Wally stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel, " _he hasn't tried to contact us. He doesn't care. Loving us- loving_ _ **me**_ _was a lie._ " Wally flopped back on his bed wearing nothing but his towel. He doesn't care. Tears welled up in Wally's eyes when he thought that. He doesn't want us. The tears started flowing down his face now. We're a failure and he knows it! HE KNOWS! Wally let out a few broken sobs as his brain ran wild. You're a mistake Wally! A fuck up! Wally cover his ears as if he could block out the voice echoing in his head.

" _I told you you'd never be anything to anyone, and look at you! Useless!"_

"You're wrong!" Wally cried.

 _"Your 'friends' are gonna tell the league about what you've done, and you'll lose everything you have for a boy who doesn't even_ _ **like**_ _you."_

"Shut up!"

 _"You're useless."_

"No…"

" _Liar!"_ His father's voice only died off when Wally let himself cry. He let out everything in a full on ugly cry. Wally screamed, and wailed, and thrashed around on his sheets. All his anger, his fear, his sadness seemed to pour out of him for hours. He was so loud that if he hadn't been so distraught he would have been afraid that the neighbors might hear. Eventually he calmed down. His sobs turned to shaky breaths. Wally swallowed, feeling his horse throat, and blinking his red, swollen eyes.

*bzz bzz* Wally jolted when his phone went off. He just stared at it at first. It only buzzed twice so it was a text, but who would text him? Dick maybe?

*bzz bzz* Wally picked up the phone, but he nearly puked when he saw that the messages were from "Ryan".

 **Ryan: Come to the park fountain at one a.m.**

 **Ryan: Come alone.**

*bzz bzz*

 **Ryan: I can help Bart.** Wally laid perfectly still. Should he go? Should he call Dick? When he looked at his phone's clock it was half an hour after midnight. Dick wouldn't get here on time, but… uncle Barry would. Then again, Klarion said he could help Bart. If Wally brought the Flash Klarion might just do the opposite in spite, but this was the chance he wanted right? He wanted to talk to Klarion, and he certainly didn't want to believe Klarion would do anything to hurt him…

*bzz bzz*

 **Ryan: You look good that way. Naked.** If anyone had seen how fast he got dressed and ran out the door they would have sworn Wally was Kid Flash instead of Bart.

…

Klarion sat on the rim of the fountain waiting. The whole place was fairly well lit with four tall street lamps around the fountain and more along the paths that winded through the park. Teekle was running about and chasing insects. Every so often Klarion would zap the bug she was after, forcing Teekle to find something else to chase.

*Mroar* _"Don't worry, Klarion."_ she reassured as she held a tiny beetle under her paw, " _He'll come."_

"Like it makes a difference," Klarion pouted while trying to sound like he didn't care if his Wally showed up. Granted, if he didn't Klarion would just take him by force without making a deal, but it was the thought that counted. If Wally showed up on his own it might mean he still cared, or at least wasn't too afraid of Klarion to talk to him. Before Klarion could say anything more, though, he heard footsteps running toward him. He put on a smile in case it was Wally. If it wasn't his Wally it was soon to be a dead person. Klarion turned to greet the newcomer, but misjudged how close they were. Right after he turned to them a fist collided with his jaw and sent him into the fountain. The stranger fell on top of him and pinned his waist with theirs so he could still prop himself up to breathe, but couldn't move. Klarion coughed and sputtered as the stranger began yelling, and if this person's voice was anything to go by it was Wally.

"YOU FUCKING JACKASS! IS THIS A GAME TO YOU?!"

*cough* "Wallace I-"

"SHUT UP!" Wally hauled Klarion up by his collar. "You've put me through so much bullshit! I should hate you, I should report you to the league… so why?" Wally took a shuddering breath, "Why am I defending you against them when I need to hate you?"

"Why do you need to hate me?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE EVIL! Because,... I'm a lord of order now…" Wally dropped his gaze from Klarions. He let out a yelp when Klarion whispered something fast and Wally was yanked back. The lord of order found himself suspended in midair about three feet from the fountain. Wally struggled against invisible restraints. He was starfished out, and felt his heart drum nervously in his chest as Klarion lifted himself out of the fountain.

"Prod eht retaw dna laeh ym sdnuow," after the spell left Klarion's lips all the water just fell off him and the large bruise on his jaw disappeared. "Wallace-"

"Wally," the lord of order corrected. Teekle jumped up on Klarion's shoulders.

"Wally," Klarion gave him a straining grin like he was trying to hold back his anger, "let's talk."

"We can 'talk' after you fix what you did to Bart!"

"Yes, yes, we're getting to that." Klarion waved off Wally's aggression. "I invited you here to make a deal." Klarion paused to see if Wally would say anything, but the lord of order just silently glared at him. "I'll break the spell your brother's under **if** ," he paused for dramatic effect, "you become mine-"

"HELL NO!"

"Ah ah ah!" Klarion held up his pointer finger, "Hear me out. You'll be mine, and not only will I help Bart, but I won't permanently damage or kill any of your friends ever."

"Is that seriously supposed to be a good deal?"

"... Yes?"

*sigh* "What if I have demands?"

"You aren't in any position to make demands."

"I am trying to work with you here!"

"Auhg! Fine, what?"

"If I go with you-"

"Be mine," Klarion corrected. Wally gave him a more half hearted glare this time.

"If I 'be yours' you can't do any permanent damage to the **league** ," Klarion scouled, but wasn't overly upset, "you can't kill anyone, like, **anyone** anyone," now Klarion was gaping indignantly at his Wally. He couldn't be serious, could he? "And you still have to free Bart."

"O.k. stop." Klarion put up his hands before balling them into fist, "I can stand one and three, but you honestly think I, a lord of chaos, will stop killing people?!"

"You would if you loved me." Wally took a gamble on that one. Though, it might have worked judging by the deep blush that spread over Klarion's cheeks and ears. The witch boy pursed his lips together, and only spoke after a few deep breaths.

"I will do no such thing."

"Then you don't love me?" It was very hard for Wally to keep a straight face as Klarion seemed to war with himself. His expressions changed as he made dorky half-word noises.

"D-I- You! Y-you, grraa! It's **you** who doesn't love **me**!"

"Yes I do." Klarion stopped everything he was doing and went into full on tomato mode. "I know you know about my affiliation with the league, and I know you've been watching me," the text made it quite obvious, "but do you know who awful I felt when Zatara told me I was a lord of order? Kent Nelson told me lords of chaos and order are mortal enemies, and I was so upset I had a fucking panic attack."

"... I… I haven't told anything."

"What?"

"I'm part of a criminal organization, but I didn't tell them about you or the Flashes." Klarion looked down as Teekle jumped off his shoulders and walked over to sit by Wally. "I didn't want them to go after you or anyone you loved."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"I love you. Will they go after you for this?"

"No," Klarion shook his head while trying not to show how much Wally's concern made him happy, "this is personal business. As long as I don't effect their plans I can do anything I want." Klarion finally let his eyes meet Wally's again. The teen was disheveled, his hair was damp and messy, his clothes were clearly thrown on, his eyes were puffy from crying, and his voice had been horse this whole time. Yet, Klarion felt some sick sense of pride at seeing his Wally like this. He was the reason Wally had rushed out of the house and to the park, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be the reason Wally had been crying or not.

"Deal." Klarion startled at his Wally's sudden acceptance of his proposal.

"Really?" Klarion asked with the smile of a child at christmas.

"Truly, as long as you comply to my demands." Klarion snapped his fingers, letting Wally fall and stumble onto his hands and knees. Klarion strode forward, grabbed Wally by his upper arms, and brought him up into a crushing kiss. Wally's first kiss was so sudden, so passionate, that the lord of order could hardly find his breath or footing. The lord of chaos held him with a surprising amount of strength, almost too much to be human considering his lithe frame. After a few seconds Klarion drew back and smiled triumphantly at the blushing lord of order in his arms.

"You have my word," Klarion whispered to his Wally. The lord of order gave him a smile so full of raw affection before throwing his arms around the witch boy that Klarion almost felt bad he would still have to kill people for Vandal's plan to work. Almost. Wally was only just starting to catch his breath. It felt strange to be on his tip toes hugging the physical embodiment of chaos, but also right. "But," Klarion gently pushed Wally off him to hold the ginger at arm's length. "Remember: I own you now, and if you betray me, everything promised tonight is forfeit." Wally looked a little scarred for a minute, but instead of running or taking his words back, he pressed himself to Klarion's chest. Klarion's face twisted into his more chaotic form with beady eyes and deeper lines. He threaded a hand, with black nails that had turned into black claws when his face had shifted, through **his** Wally's fiery hair.

"Peels evol." Wally's body slumped, unconscious, against Klarion who easily supported his weight. Wally was his for real now. Klarion started laughing like a madman when he opened a portal to his house. Teekle followed quietly behind the witch boy, not wanting to spoil his moment of triumph. Besides, if Klarion was happy, so was she. Even if she had a sinking feeling that things were only going to get more difficult from here on out.


	6. Short and Sour

**Sorry this is so short, and probably full of mistakes.**

Wally didn't notice anything strange right off the bat. He didn't notice that his own bed had never been so soft, or that the other body wrapped around him wasn't Bart's. Well, he didn't notice until the body, which was much to big to be Bart, tightened it's grip on him and kissed his ear.

"Good morning Wallace~!" Klarion smiled when Wally's face went red as his hair. He was his! All Klarion's and no one else's!

"G-get off! You're hot." Wally wiggled out from under Klarion as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh, I know," Klarion flirted. Wally sat up and scouled down at the lord of chaos, but he gave in when Klarion cocked an eyebrow and smirked in a way that was so stupid it hurt. Wally flopped back down next to Klarion who pulled them close. They sat like this for a short time. Klarion had his eyes closed, enjoying the moment. Wally's eyes were looking everywhere. The bedroom was more like a sunroom with its large dome of windows that led out to a stone balcony, deep cherry wood flooring and furniture, black lace draped across the ceiling out from a red crystal chandelier to the widows where it billowed in the breeze of several open panes like the skirts of a ballroom dancer, and the walls shimmered with metallic red runes placed over a slightly lighter matte wallpaper.

"Where are we?"

"My room." Klarion smiled as he began petting his Wally's fiery hair.

"You know that's not what I meant, smartass." Wally rolled his eyes when Klarion's hands went from clasped around his waist to feeling up his sides.

"Hnm… that's a tougher question, Pet. How about I explain it over breakfast?" Wally's mouth watered at the mention of food while he tried not to squirm under Klarion's touch.

"That sounds like a great idea." The lords separated, both rolling out of Klarion's fur blanketed bed in opposite directions. Klarion offered his hand to Wally in an over dramatic way that made the ginger laugh before taking the offered hand in a equally dramatic manor. Wally felt strange seeing Klarion in pajamas. They were fancy black ones with a cursive K stitch over the breast pocket in red. Actually, now that Wally looked at himself he was wearing the same thing, but in blue with a white W. "Where did you even get these pjs?"

"I made them." Klarion looked over to see Wally's expression of disbelief. "With magic."

"Ah… What about the house?" Wally asked as he inspected the grey striped walls lit by yellow mushrooms glowing on the ceiling. Klarion followed his gaze up.

"Those are fake. I made them, and the rest of my home with my magic." Wally gaped at the witch boy in awe.

"You made **all** of this?"

"Yep! The whole estate is in a pocket dimension. It took a while, but just wait till I give you the full tour!" Klarion steered Wally right, and into a small dining room with oak furniture that sported rosewood inlays.

"This is outstanding, I mean, the attention to detail! A pocket dimension?! You have to teach me some magic."

"I'd love to." Klarion felt like his heart would burst from joy any second now. Teekle trotted into the room just as Wally's face turned sour.

"Wait, how did I get here?!"

"I knocked you out and brought you through a portal," Klarion said like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. Klarion kept his gaze on the food floating in from the kitchen while Wally smacked his own forehead in annoyance.

"Klarion!" The witch boy continued to ignore him in favor of filling his plate, "Klarion, you can't knock people out and change their cloths in their sleep."

"In my defense," Klarion replied, still not looking Wally in the eye, "you agreed to come with me anyways, and the first time going through magic portals is always the worst. You should thank me for knocking you out." Wally glared at Klarion, begrudgingly accepting his answer. The lord of order filled his plate and started on his eggs before he thought of two more things that needed to be discussed.

"I don't want to be called Pet." Klarion finally looked him in the eye to pout.

"Booooo!"

"And," Wally paused, more nervous about bringing this up, "is there some way I could see Bart? Just to know he's alright."

…

Bart's head pounded and his throat was painfully dry. He squinted his eyes against the rising sun, and took in the miles of sand surrounding him on all sides. What the heck?! Last thing he remembered he had just gotten home from defeating Amazo. Bart stood up to stretch when he noticed a shack below him. Might aswell check it out. He sped down to the scrappy little shed, and was surprised to find a girl passed out in it. She didn't seem to belong in the shack with her almost female version of Green Arrow's uniform.

"Hey," he gently nudged her shoulder, "hey Miss, wake up."

"Mmnn," her eyes opened slowly. Bart backed off letting her sit up. When her eyes met his Bart gave her a big smile. He didn't expect her to startle back like he was going to attack her.

"Hey, it's okay," He stayed still in an attempt to not scare her further, "I won't hurt you. I'm one of the good guys." She didn't move so Bart stood up slowly with his hands up to show he was unarmed. "I'm Kid Flash!"

"I've seen Kid Flash on the news." She looked at him skeptically. "He doesn't wear black." Bart looked down at himself, then back up to her.

"A little unclear on that myself. What about you? Green Arrow fixation?" The girl looked down at herself in shock.

"Who put me in this?!"

"Wow, this is **not** my field of exercise." Bart made a silent wish that Wally was here. "So, you know how to use that bow?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me- DAD!" the unnamed Green Arrow fangirl suddenly became extremely angry. "He must have done this! Another of his stupid tests!"

"What kind of tests?" The girl looked him dead in the eye.

"He probably wants me to kill you." Bart's eyes widened in fear, but before he could say anything else the sound of an incoming missile had him dragging her out of the shack just before it was blown up. Both of the teens were thrown to the ground by the blast. They peered over their shoulders in time to see at least three tanks rolling towards them. A jeep with a machine gun lead the way for the tanks. The teens started running as gunfire chased their heels. The archer rolled and fired an exploding arrow, effectively taking out the jeep. She took cover behind a rock. Did she honestly think she could take out those tanks?! Brat dashed forward and threw the girl over his shoulder soldier style. She didn't protest as he ran, but did twist her head around to glare at him.

"Sorry," Bart grunted under her weight, "they have bigger arrows." Bart zig zagged to avoid the shots from the tanks. The girl looked back at the craters the shots left in the ground.

"Thanks."

"No problem," Bart grinned, "and, not to pry, but what's your name? Oh, and what's this about you killing me?"

…

"What about Cherry Bomb?"

"That's way to extreme."

"Sugar beet?"

"I hate beets." Wally complained as Klarion lead him through the winding hallways. The lord of chaos was determined to find a pet name for his Wally. "How about something not related to my hair color."

"Hmmn...what if I just call you Rudolf?"

"My middle name?"

"The red nosed reindeer~!" Klarion sang. He laughed when his Wally jokingly hit him in the arm. "It's cute!"

"Yeah, well what if I called you Klare-bear?!" Wally had meant that to sound angry, but Klarion just laughed harder.

"Would you honestly be able to say that without feeling embarrassed?"

"Y-yes."

"Liar." Klarion opened one of the doors to reveal a room that could only be described as grand. Oak floors, paneling, and furniture were lit by floating cages holding candles and the natural light from an entire wall of ceiling to floor windows. The room was three times as wide as Klarion's, but it was broken up by three levels of floors. Each section was about four or five inches taller from the last. Starting from the far right, the lowest section, there was a grey fireplace encircled by plush, dusky purple chairs. A huge cream-colored fur laid between the chairs and the fireplace. On either side of the fireplace were tall bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. The middle of the room was bare save for a large two level indent. The first level was carved with the outer rim of a magic circle, and the inner level was completely covered by a mirror. Finally, the third level, the highest one, had all the makings of a bedroom. A queensized dusky purple bed, a dresser, a closet, a lane chest, heck, it even had a vanity. The bedroom area was separated by mostly see-through sheer curtains the same color as the bed and chairs.

"Dude," Wally breathed.

"You like it?"

"This-it," Wally gestured to the whole room, "this is the most amazing room I've ever seen!"

"Well that's good, seeing as I made it especially for you." Wally turned to Klarion with his jaw dropped.

"You made this for me? This is my room?!"

"Yup! I figured since you'd be spending so much time here I decided to make your room bigger." Klarion smile triumphantly till he saw the flash of sadness fall over Wally's face. That's when he realised what he just said. You belong to me now, and I wanted to make your cage fancy. Aren't I a great owner? Shit. "Of course," Klarion tried to salvage the situation, "you have free reign over my entire dimension. The house, the garden, everything."

"Right," Wally wasn't necessarily upset, well okay, he **was** upset, but he wasn't mad. Not anymore at least. "What's that?" Wally changed the subject by pointing out the circle in the middle of the room.

"That's a viewing circle," Klarion explained, thankful for the distraction, "Come on, I'll show you how to use it." Klarion led his Wally to the circle. He motioned for the lord of order to stand just outside of it before Klarion stepped down onto one of the runes. The circle glowed red and the mirror rippled like water before stilling to reveal Bart panting next to Artemis in a desert.

…

"Sorry," Kid Flash apologized as he caught his breath, "running on empty. Don't think I've eaten in a while." He opened a compartment on his wrist protector that should have had snacks only to find it empty. "Been out here over twentyfour hours otherwise my cupboards wouldn't be bare."

*boom* A shirtless Superboy ground-pounded between the two roaring like an animal before he charged Kid. The speedster was backhanded into a rock wall like he weighed nothing. Superboy then turned on Artemis. She flipped away from him and fired explosive arrows, but they didn't even slow him down. Artemis was about to be creamed until Superboy was struck by a missile.

…

"NO!" Wally was in a panic. Klarion was pretty sure that if Bart was bleeding Wally might start freaking out like the time Klarion pushed the brat in the nose. "We- I have to help him!"

"What?!" Klarion couldn't believe his ears. Helping meant leaving. Wally couldn't leave! He would never let him leave!

"Klarion," Wally looked at the lord of chaos with pleading eyes, "he's my little brother! I have to do something!" Klarion felt anger and fear start to cook in his gut.

"AND WHAT ARE **YOU** GOING TO DO?!" Wally immediately shrank back when Klarion started yelling. The witch boy stepped off the rune, and the image dissipated while he stalked toward Wally. "You have NO powers, NO skills, and NO experience with fighting TANKS!" Wally backed away during Klarion's rant only for the witch boy to follow him till he had Wally up against a wall. "Your brother and his team got themselves into this mess, and guess what: they're responsible for getting themselves out of it. Not the big leaguers, not their mentors, and certainly not you." Klarion had his hands against the wall on either side of his Wally. Their faces were inches apart when he whispered, "If you can't handle seeing your idiot brother getting smacked around like a rag doll I'll just deactivate the circle. You won't be able to use it to see him, or anyone else ever."

Something in Wally snapped. He tried to punch Klarion in the gut only to draw his hand back with a cry of pain. It was like he had punched a brick wall! Klarion's hands suddenly moved to entangle themselves in his Wally's hair. He yanked the boy's head back, forcing him to look up at Klarion's furious grin.

"Oh Wallace," Klarion chuckled, "Wally, Wally **Rudolph.** " he growled the last word before shifting so Wally was pinned to the wall by one of Klarion's legs jammed between his. "This is **my** dimension. I created it and hold dominion over everything inside. Here," Klarion raised his leg so Wally was standing on his tiptoes, "I am all powerful." Wally's whimper sent Klarion's whole body buzzing. His face twisted demonically. It was like he could taste the fear rolling off his Wally. It was addictive, like strawberry candy. Oh, just imagine how good he would-

*roarow* Teekle snapped her witch boy out of his delirium. Klarion's face shifted back to normal. He blinked like he was just waking up from a dream. A shaking body caught his attention, and he looked back down at his Wally. The ginger was biting his lip to hold back his half sobs. His face was pale with fear, and his hands clutched at Klarion's wrists were they remained tangled in his hair. Klarion let go. He took a step back, and without Klarion supporting him Wally collapsed onto his hands and knees. Several minutes passed before either of the boys moved. Teekle waited before padding over to Wally, but once she got about a foot from him frantically shuffled away from her.

"Stay away!" He meant for his words to sound firm. Unfortunately, pressing himself into the wall and breathing like there wasn't enough air kind of killed that.

"Wally I-" Klarion reached out toward Wally.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Wally screamed, "Don't touch me…" he whispered. Klarion's fingers twitched. Once again a war of emotions battled within him. How dare my Wally deny me! How could I hurt him? He's mine! I'm his. I want to own him! I want to please him. Klarion's compassion and chaotic power fought tooth and nail. They formed knots in his chest, and pounded his against skull. Red flames swirled around his feet, and Wally was terrified.

"You're free to wander the estate," Klarion spoke with a calmness that betrayed his surging power. The lord of chaos didn't even look at Wally, he just grabbed Teekle and teleported away. Wally seemed to be in a state of shock as he picked himself up and moved back to the circle. He stepped onto the rune that Klarion had. The mirror rippled then displayed Bart. It seemed like more time had passed there than where Wally was because night had already fallen. The team was safe, everyone was heading back to the cave, and nobody seemed any worse for wear. Tears found their way to Wally's eyes when Miss Martian finished fixing everyone's memories. The looks on there faces when they remembered he was missing. Wally felt like too much had happened in to little time. He had been selfish. He hadn't considered how others would feel. Fuck, he'd been happy to be with Klarion just this morning! Wally watched Bart head back to their aunt and uncle's place were their mother, and apparently now Bart, was staying. It was only at this time that he actually allowed himself to cry.

What has he done?

 **Have a lot of questions? So do I. Also, if there is anything I deem sensor worthy in a chapter I will tell you so you don't have to keep checking AO3.**


	7. Holding Your Hand

**So the first part is Bart first waking up, then we go back to where we left off.**

Bart startled awake. Uhg, what the heck happened? His body screamed at him as he pulled the tubes out of his throat. His muscles felt like he hadn't moved in years. He managed to sit up and look around at all the machines he was connected to. A machine to monitor his heart, to monitor his temp, his blood sugar, his… brain waves? Bart started stretching while going over the events leading up too this in his head. He was definitely in the cave's med bay, but how did he get there? Last thing he remembered he was heading home from a mission against Ivo's amazo android. Bart started stretching his neck out when he noticed the magic circle on the ceiling. It was dark black, like it had been drawn on in charcoal.

He started pulling out his wires, eventually getting to the one connected to his pulse. It went flat, but when he got up to turn it off his legs gave out. Man, how long had he been asleep? His muscles were totally shot. Just then the door flew open.

"Bart!" Robin? Why did he look soo concerned? The Robin he remembered borderline hated him, but here he was, fussing over Bart and helping him stand. "Steady, the others are coming," he said as he settled Bart to sit back on his bed. Sure enough, before Bart could even ask questions in filed the team and several leaguers.

"Can someone please tell me what happened?"

"Your identity was compromised. We-" Batman was cut off by Flash hurdling himself into the room and glomping his sidekick.

"Bart! Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried,yourmomwassoworriedIriswassoworried-"

"Flash!" The hero froze before letting go of his sidekick, but not stepping away from him as Batman continued from where he left off. "You were attacked in your home by a magic user we strongly believe to be Klarion the witch boy. We need to know everything you can remember." Bart's face was suddenly horror stricken.

"My house- but then- My mom! Where is she, where's Wally?!"

"You mother is fine."

"And Wally?!" Bart's heart was in his throat when Batman paused.

"He was fine the night it happened, Klarion only seemed to be there to attack you," No one noticed the slight tenseness that Robin, Superboy, and Miss Martian held. "But around one O'clock this morning he went missing." Bart was somwere between scared shitlees for his brother and pissed as all hell.

"Where did he last go missing, who's looking for him, what time is it now? I can go help! I-" Batman held up a hand to stop Kid Flash's rapid fire questions.

"Right now it's noon, and you won't be going anywhere until Flash and the team deem you fit. As for Wally: we're doing the best we can with what we have. It's going to take time, though. And we still need answers about your attack." Batman looked at him a moment longer before sweeping out of the room. Several of the leaguers followed him. A ponytailed girl wearing a knock-off green arrow costumed squeezed in behind them.

"Hey," she gave him a small smile, but under her mask he could see her eyes were puffy from crying. "My names Artemis, it's nice to meet you."

…

What had been days for Bart had gone by in hours for Wally. He stayed at the viewing circle watching his brother for most of it. Eventually he figured out that standing on different runes focused him in on different people. He could follow Bart, his mother, uncle Barry, aunt Iris, Dick, Roy, Kon, his class schedule (which was both weird and useful), and Klarion. When Wally saw Klarion going around some large lab, talking to other villains, he didn't pay attention as much as he should have.

Wally let their words go in one ear and out the other as he crouched down over the image. The lord of order stretched out one hand to touch Klarion's face, but retracted it when the mirror made a horrible sound like silverware on china mixed with a high pitched screech. He held his hand to his chest to try and get the feeling back to it. The cold numbness slowly ebbed away, and Wally made a mental note **not** to do that again.

After exploring the circle he wandered too the shelves, but grew bored quickly. All of the books were magical texts and Wally didn't want to learn anything right now. He just wanted to let his mind go blank. This, of course, is what led him through the halls to find the garden. Wally had tried to memorise the path he took so he could make it back to his room, but ended up losing track. The halls in Klarion's house were ridiculous! There were no stairs, but lots of slanted floors. Some of the halls were gradual, others steep, some ran diagonal, and many criss-crossed. Most of the hallways were void of anything, while others were so full of widows, doors, paintings, vases, chairs, statues, and other various things that Wally could hardly walk through them. All of the halls had the same basic design though, dark and light grey vertical stripes lit by yellow-gold glowing mushrooms hanging over an almost blood-like red marble floor. The deep swirls of various reds and a bit of black in the marble's glossy surface furthering the illusion.

Wally was nearly ready to start punching walls when he finally turned the corner to see a hall with it's right wall made of intricate rod iron gates. Wally only took a moment to appreciate them before pushing through the first set. He was outside, finally! Yet, he frowned, the air was no fresher out side Klarion's house than inside. It smelled slightly more outdoorsy, but the lingering perfume of cinnamon and parchment was still there. A slight breeze drifted through the garden as he started to explore. Unfortunately, nothing helped him feel any less like a bug in a jar.

The hazy blue sky put out light, but had no sun. The garden itself was more like a hodgepodge of plants growing big, happy, and wherever they pleased. The plants ranged from rice, to pumpkins, to pitcher plants, to things Wally had never seen before. Wally wandered further from the house into a large patch of herbs. He decided that, while it was strange, he rather liked the feeling of the dirt and grass under his feet. Wait what? Wally looked down and almost laughed: he was still wearing the pajamas Klarion had put him in. Frick, he was so pissed! Klarion had gone full sadist on him! And Wally had gone full wuss, he should have- no, that's just the kicker, there was nothing he could have done. He's a bug in a jar, and Klarion is the guy who could squish him at any moment. So why the hell is he still fucking in love with him?!

…

"Why can't you just-"

"No, no, no ,no, nnnoooo!" Klarion threw his hands up in the air, "I have been explaining this to you over the course of three days!" Klarion clapped his hands together before turning to face the other members of the light working on this project with him. "That is **not** how magic works! It's not just hocus pocus and suddenly whatever you want just happens! There's preperation, there's intent. I'm not some stupid little magician. I am a lord! You want a distraction, fine, but affecting the entire globe twice over is more than a one man job for the level of detail desired!"

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just didn't set up the safety?" Ocean master was fairly smug about his comment, but shrank back instantly when Klarion's demonic rage was turned on him.

"Don't you even start with me ocean wannabe! You aren't even on the baby magician's level, heck, you can't even measure up to Aqua **cad**! I do whatever I want within the mission parameters, and if you want to keep your head so you have something to hold that ridiculous helmet on you will keep your useless trap shut!" Everyone looked about ready to bolt in case Klarion lost control, but Savage looked more curious than fearful. At least, compared to everyone else he did.

"Very well, but I would like to know why you want to spare lives from the inevitable chaos of your spell."

"None of your beeswax, I have my own list of reasons that I don't need to share with you geezers."

…

From the outside, Klarion's house looked like a huge, twisted castle. It was like someone had just stapled together broken parts of various black lairs of disney villains to form one big super lair and dropped it in the middle of an artificial eden. Well, it did look pretty cool, in a weird way, but it wasn't even the creepiest part of the pocket dimension. Wally had made it to a forest filled with every type of tree imaginable, and had yet to see a single living thing other than himself. There were no birds, no bugs, no squirrels, no anything. The breeze was too gentle to make much noise, leaving Wally in a perpetual silence. The lord of order pressed on, weaving through the trees. He passed a blue oak tree and decided it would be his landmark. Wally finally let his mind go blank. He ignored his now dirty off-white pjs, as well as the roots and rocks cutting his feet as he came to a stream. Wally sat down on its bank, closed his eyes, and leaned back on a sycamore.

When he opened his eyes the fake sky was pitch black, yet still somehow managed to give off moonlight. His right foot throbbed from all the dirty cuts, and the distance he had walked. His left foot felt strangely numb, though. It took Wally a minute to realize someone was washing it in the cold water of the stream, and when he did notice the lord of order immediately tried to jerk it back.

"Wait a sec, stupid!" Wally froze when he heard Klarion's voice, but the lord of chaos seemed to ignore this in favor of setting Wally's foot back in the water. Soft red light flowed over it and finished healing the many cuts and bruises. "I can't believe you let them get like this! What if they had gotten infected! Incase you can't tell," Klarion gave Wally his left foot back before taking the right one to repeat the process, "I'm not very skilled with the healing arts!" Wally held his healed foot, trying to warm it up from the cold water. The cuts were gone and so was any pain or bruising.

"You seem pretty skilled to me."

"Please, the only reason I can do this much is because i have access to running water," Klarion scoffed. Wally looked over at his moonlit silhouette. Klarion was kneeling in the water while gently kneading his magic into Wally's cuts. He looked so out of place doing it while still wearing his villain attire.

"Why do you need the water?" Wally barely caught the flash of Klarions eyes before the witch boy looked back at what he was doing.

"Running water creates a small amount of positive magical energy. This energy is what light magics are based from. My powers are mainly focused in the dark arts, meaning I run on negative energy, and have trouble using light magic. Things like healing are more difficult for a lord of chaos than for a normal wizard, and I require a source of light magic to perform them without becoming exhausted."

"Heh, and I thought you were 'all powerful' here." Wally's nervous smile faltered when Klarion looked up at him with a blank face. Klarion let go of Wally's, now healed, right foot. Wally slowly crawled away from Klarion as the witch boy moved forward out of the water. Wally's back hit the sycamore. Klarion continued to move forward with the grace of a cat. He paused with his face just barely an inch away from his Wally's right ear.

"Rudolf," Klarion breathed over the ginger's ear, "are you afraid of me?" Klarion's question nearly sounded innocent except for the obvious way his hand rested on Wally's waist. The lord of order swallowed before answering.

"Why are you doing this?" Wally's heart started pounding in his chest when Klarion's hand began moving slowly up and down his side.

"Because I want to." Klarion's mouth ghosted over his Wally's ear. Wally was torn between trying to wriggle away, and lean in closer.

"Why me?" Klarion's free hand went to Wally's shirt buttons. The lord of chaos's claws ticked on the white buttons as he undid them from the top down.

"Hmmn," Klarion hummed as if he didn't know the answer himself before he started softly peppering Wally's ear with kisses. The lord of order gave as small gasp before starting to squirm. He wasn't trying to get away though, and Klarion only smiled into Wally's ear. The witch boy got a firm grip on Wally's hips to hold him down before running serpentine tongue over his ginger's ear. Wally held back small moans as Klarion nibbled, licked, sucked, and kissed his ear. While Wally was distracted Klarion moved his legs over his Wally's so they were pinned, And Wally finally gave a moan when Klarion's hands moved to tease his nipples. He couldn't help but wonder if they were ever this sensitive before as Klarion rubbed and tweaked them. Wally found himself arching into the sensation. An extreme desire for Klarion to kiss him grew with the tightness in his pants. But just before Wally could ask him too Klarion pulled back. Wally would slap himself later at the way he whined when Klarion's hands move back to his hips. "Do you fear me Rudolf?"

"I-" Wally looked up at Klarion, still panting, and found the answer in the black of his "owner's" eyes, "I'm afraid of how much I love you." Klarion had no time to answer before Wally yanked him down by the hair for their second kiss. The thought that this relationship was perhaps the most dangerous thing he'd ever done crossed his mind for all of two seconds before Klarion had his tongue exploring Wally's mouth, and drinking the lord of order's sounds like they were alcohol during prohibition. When the kiss finally broke Klarion had one hand supporting himself on the tree and one wrapped around his Wally's waist. Wally had his arms around Klarion's neck. Klarion put his head down to the crook of his Wally's neck, but when his teeth grazed the sensitive skin there he found himself getting pushed back. "But, maybe we could go a bit… slower?" Slow was the last thing Klarion wanted to be with his Wally, but he still backed off. A very difficult thing to do when the object of your desire is flushed and panting beneath you.

"... Let's head back," Klarion's voice was no longer seductive, but friendly, as he held out a hand to help his Wally up. The lord of order took the offer with a smile. The moment he was back on his feet, though, the world flashed black and Wally got virgo. Klarion held the ginger to his chest while Wally regained his senses. They were in a bathroom as large and grand as any other room in Klarion's house. Or should Wally start calling it a castle after seeing it from the outside? Wally looked back from the room to Klarion when the witch boy let go of him. His flush returned full force when Klarion started taking off his suit.

"W-wa-wait!" Wally had caught his breath, but his cooling blush was now returning full force, and his pants had never stopped being tight. Klarion looked back at him with a shit eating grin.

"What's wrong Rudolf? You've been running around all day, and I like to take a shower before going to bed. This bathrooms big enough, why not share?"

"I-I,"Wally swallowed hard, "I think I'd prefer a little privacy right now…"

"Hey," Klarion shrugged, "if you won't peek, I won't." Wally looked at him a second longer before turning around. He tried his best to maneuver behind a frosted glass divider while getting undressed. Somehow the buttons on his shirt were far more complex when he could hear Klarion's pants drop in the background. Don't look, don't look, you said you wanted privacy but you have to give him hi-

Wally's entire body tensed when he heard a **very** distinctive slapping sound. Klarion was jerking off behind him, and he hadn't even turned on one of the showerheads to try to hide it! The lord of order's skin felt too hot, too tight. He could hear Klarion's breath getting more ragged as his hand sped up. Wally's own member was fully erect and he swore if he heard even the smallest moan from the lord of chaos he would lose it.

Klarion was thoroughly disappointed when his Wally turned the shower head he was under on full blast. No doubt the water was freezing cold by the yelp he let slip when he turned it on. Well, ya know what? Fuck that. He was finishing, and he was doing it to thoughts of his Wally. He let himself get louder. Images of his Wally just moments ago filled his mind. If he hadn't been pushed off he would have most likely gone all the way with him.

Wally was trying to finish his shower as quickly as possible. The mantra of "don't look" rang in his ears. He was pretty sure he was finished in record time, and he made a break for the door.

"Wait!" Wally stopped, but was careful not to turn around. "Do you even know the way back to your room?"

"..."

"Rudo-"

"Wally! Just call me Wally, Klarion. Christ." He felt a little bit weird at the fact that he was going to walk through Klarion's house naked. Well, it wasn't like anybody else was here, but still. Wally hadn't even noticed Klarion come up behind him before he reached the door. His whole body tensed when he felt the lord of chaos press his chest against the ginger's back. The lord of chaos was still hard, and when Wally tried to move away he found himself pinned between Klarion and the door. He was nervous that Klarion might do something, but the witch boy just reached around him to grab the door handle.

"Good night, **Rudolf** ," Klarion whispered before opening the door. Wally fell in, and the door was slammed closed behind him. He felt the anger burn his face as all his pent up frustrations burst. Got up and threw himself upon the, now locked, door. He poured out his fear, his sorrow, his frustration, stress, anger, and loneliness. He yelled at the door because he was just so confused!

 _"Just like your worthless mother."_

"SHUT UP!"

*wham-crack*

"AHH!" He held his hand to his chest. Ok, so punching the door with all his might was probably not the best idea. His hand was definitely broken. "Stupid," he chastised himself, "Stupid me, stupid 'lord of order bullcrap', stupid dad, STUPID KLARION! I HATE THIS! I HATE MY ROOM!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, "I HATE THIS HOUSE! I HATE YOUR LIFELESS WORLD! I HATE BEING ALONE! I HATE MYSELF!" His eyes were bleary from tears he didn't know had started to pour. He blinked while trying to catch his breath. It was then that he realised Klarion had used his magic to somehow shove him into his room instead of the hallway. Wally collapsed to his knees before falling over on his side and curling into fetal position. He cradled his broken hand as he cried like he'd been doing all too often recently. He felt pathetic. "I hate myself." A gentle buzz of magic filled the room. A pair of sturdy arms pulled him into Klarion's lap. Wally wanted to shove him away, but only found himself leaning closer as he cried against Klarion's shoulder. The witch boy's hands ran slowly over his back, and his sobs began to slow. "I hate myself," Wally whispered between his tears. He was pathetic. "Why," his hands fisted the red nightshirt Klarion had changed into, "Why can't I hate you?" One of Klarion's hands left Wally's back to cup his chin, and brought his face up to look at him.

"I don't know," His other hand came up to wipe the tears off Wally's face, "and I don't care."

"... Why're you such an ass?"

"Same reason I put Teekl in an inescapable room so she wouldn't interrupt us again." Wally drew back a bit to give Klarion a "are you shitting me" look.

"You are an asshole."

"Yeah."

"Your also, like, really mean."

"I know."

"Why?"

"..." Klarion searched Wally's eyes as if he could find the answer the question about his own behavior in them. "Honestly, I don't know. The night I first met you I was planning to torture and kill you for amusement," Wally paled, "but then I saw you. Even after that I was still just going to wait till you got sick of me then kill you. Now? I think I'm obsessed. I can't imagine not having you. The thought of anything ever happening to you makes me sick." Wally had just started relaxing back into Klarion's hold when the witch boy grabbed his upper arms and held them firm. Not so hard it hurt. the action was more like an anchor between them. Grounding them both in some twisted semblance of reality. "The thought of you ever not wanting me anymore, though," Klarion looked into Wally's eyes with desperation, "I feel like I'll go mad. I have trouble controlling my powers. They feed of suffering, and it's like one half of me just wants to keep you safe, but the other half just wants to break you!"

"You wouldn't." Wally wanted to run his hand through Klarion's still damp hair; to comfort him, but the twitch of his fingers reminded him of his broken hand with pain shooting up his arm. Klarion carefully took the injured hand in his like he was holding some small bird.

"Oh love, don't do this. Don't I hurt you enough already?" Wally watched as Klarion inspected his hand.

"Say that again."

"What?"

"What you just said, say it again. Please."

"The part about me hurting you?"

"No, what you called me."

"Love?"

"Yeah," Wally suddenly felt the exhaustion from his breakdown hit him, "I like that."

"Alright, sleep." Klarion pressed a chaste kiss to his Wally's forehead, "I'll have you fixed by the time you wake up."

 **If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me, I'll keep going till I either run out of ideas or time.**


	8. Bat-fail

**So I'm thinking that the other pairings for this fic will be bluepulse, Kon-el x Icilce Jr., and slight Sladin. If you have any opinions, negative or otherwise, feel free to share.**

"This is a terrible idea."

"This is a great idea."

"Klarion, this is one of the worst ideas I've ever heard."

" **You** wanted to get out of my pocket dimension and talk to people. I don't like them, but they're not stupid enough to hurt you. I have to go in for a meeting anyway so it's perfect."

"These are villains! The worst of the worst."

"They won't hurt you-"

"I'm not worried about that! I don't want them to recognize me!"

"I can help with that," Klarion grinned. He placed his hand on the small of Wally's back to guide him back to his room.

…

"This is pointless!"

"Bart, please, just give us a little more time-"

"No! We have been at this for hours! This isn't working," Bart tried to sound strong, but he was so frustrated. He should've been able to give them something, anything on what happened to his brother. He had nothing. "I should be out looking for him, not here getting my brain screened by martians."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Miss M tried to reason, "but your memories from that time are just so scrambled."

"Frankly, I'm surprised any of his thoughts are legible," Robin joked with a sad smile. The martians and Bart looked to where the Y.J. team and some of the leaguers had just entered.

"Report," Batman commanded.

"I'm afraid there is nothing to report," Martian Manhunter admitted while shaking his head. "His memories from the attack are practically irreparable."

"Practically, but not impossible," Flash reasoned.

"What if it doesn't even matter?!" Everyone looked over at Bart, "You're all riding on this like it's going to give you some magical answer out of thin air, but there's a pretty good chance the two incidents aren't even related!"

"If he had been taken for ransom we would have gotten a letter or something by now," Canary supplied.

"I know, but what if it's something worse than ransom? What if he got snatch up to be sold for bodyparts? What if he's already dead?!"

"That," Giovanni interrupted, "I can disprove. There is a certain shift in the magical balance when a lord is killed. I have been keeping a close eye on it, and I can assure you he is still alive."

"That's great, but it doesn't tell us where he is or what's happening to him."

"Kid Flash," Batman walked up to the upset speedster, "this isn't easy for anyone, but the league and the team have other priorities. Unless we can find some clue to Wally's whereabouts his case is frozen." Kid Flash looked up at Batman in shock. This couldn't be happening.

"I know it's hard, Kid-"

"Shut up Robin!" The boy wonder shrunk back when Bart turned on him. "This is it?! You're all just going to abandon him?"

"No," Flash spoke up, "we will find him. I won't rest till we do. Batman just… can't help us without anything to go on."

"There has to be something!"

"Sorry Kid," Green lantern shook his head, "our only suspect is Klarion, but we have such little information on him, and no way to find him since his file is a dead end. We know Wally went home after finding out he was the new lord of order, then left. That's it." Bart was fuming. He knew all that already. Everyone knew that! Bart was so angry he was vibrating.

"Maybe," Flash put a hand on Bart's shoulder, "you should take a break." Bart didn't even say anything else. He just ran off into the cave. Bart had never felt so useless in his life. When he reached the library Bart zipped to the back wall and punched it. Pain shot up his arm, but it only fueled his anger. Kid Flash punched the wall again, and again, and again. Behind him a figure came out from behind the shelves.

"What'd the wall ever do to you?" Bart spun around. His surprise at seeing Artemis. Her eyes were puffy from crying. Had she been hiding here?

"Artemis?"

"Hi Kid."

"What are you doing here?" Bart asked before leaning against the wall he just punched.

"Right now?" She leaned against the wall next to him, "Talking to you." Bart felt a wave of familiarity wash over him. This was exactly how Wally talked to Bart when he was upset.

"... I miss him. Losing my brother, I just feel so useless!"

"Like you should have been able to do something?"

"Yes! If I'd have been there-"

"Nothing would have changed," Bart felt like Artemis had just punched him in the heart, "There was no possible way you could have been there. It was our fault for letting Wally go, and not yours. The only thing you have any responsibility for is helping to find, and save him."

"... Thank you." Bart found himself pulled into Artemis's arms like a child. He wrapped his arms around her waist while she swayed her hips. The moment was so calm, so platonic and personal at the same time, if Bart had been blind he would have sworn Artemis was his mother.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked after a moment.

"Yeah…"

…

"Wow."

"You like it?" Klarion asked with a hopeful grin.

"...Wow." The outfit Klarion had for Wally somehow screamed both lord of order and superhero at the same time. Leather armor that reminded him of Bart's kevlar was secured over impossibly fine chain mail. The gloves and hooded cape were made of white silk. The leather still had the white fur of whatever animal it had once been on it, and the white fluff stuck out from the edges of the leather plates like a lining. The boots, arm cuffs, and belt all had the short white fur on the outside. There were large, bright green, emeralds on the belt buckle, cape collapse, glove backs, the top front part of the boots just under the knees, and over the heart. To top it all off was a domino mask made of the same white fur and leather. It was beautiful, and Wally could never pull it off in a million years. Klarion recognized the look on his Wally's face.

"I made it for you, you'll look great."

"You really think so?" Wally looked over at Klarion nervously.

"Trust me." Klarion moved Wally in front of a mirror. The lord of order took a deep breath before closing his eyes.

"Ok, I'm ready."

"Relax," Klarion whispered. Wally heard a snap. He opened his eyes, and wow. The suit fit him like a second skin. It was also impossibly light, no doubt from magic. He hadn't even noticed before, but all the gems were the same color as his eyes. Behind that domino mask his eyes looked like they were part of the costume. The suit made him look… unreal. Wally let his eyes drift to the left and smirked when he noticed he wasn't the only one enjoying the view. Klarion was practically **drooling** over Wally. And the lord of order had to admit: it felt really good.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Why bother," Klarion wrapped his arms around Wally's waist, "we have eternity to spend together after all." Wait a minute.

"Wait," Wally pushed the slightly taller boy off him, "what do you mean eternity?" Klarion pouted a little, but remembered that he might not have explained that part.

"Yeah, lords don't age, or get sick. We can only die by the hands of another lord, too." Forever. The word bounced around in Wally's head, and Klarion could see him taking it in a bad way. "But, hey! Can you guess what your armors made out of?"

"Uh," Wally was snapped out of his thoughts, "Leather, and metal, and stuff?"

"Correct, but what kind of leather?"

"Umm… like, cow hide?"

"Aww, come on!" Klarion smiled at his Wally like a fox, "you can totally guess this, Rudolf~"

*gasp* "You didn't"

"I did!"

"You made it out of deerskin!?"

"Albino deer skin!" Klarion started laughing at the look Wally was giving him. Wally wasn't sure wether to laugh along, or feel scandalized.

*mraow*

"O-ok, Teekle," Klarion agreed before calming his laughter, "You're right. It's time to go."

…

"Sounds like you and your brother were pretty close."

"We were practically inseparable, or, at least I followed him everywhere. I feel really bad about it sometimes."

"Why?"

"Well," Bart tensed, "Wallywassupposedtobekidflash!"

"What?"

"Wally, he… he was the one who replicated Flash's experiment, but I interrupted it and got Flash's powers instead of him. He was supposed to be Kid Flash, not me."

"Bart," Artemis sighed, "I met your brother, you know. If you're afraid of him resenting you I can promise that any resentment he may or may not have is far outweighed by the love he has for you."

"Really?" Bart looked over at her with watery eyes. Christ, he was so young, and yet, Artemis felt like she was just noticing it. She knew that Bart was the youngest on the team, but he always held himself with so much confidence that she forgot just how young the youngest was. It felt like she was trying to comfort her own inner child.

"Truly."

…

All eyes were on Wally when Klarion teleported them into the room. Wally felt his stomach doing flip-flops as he recognized each villain there. Poison Ivy was sitting in a hammock of plants. Count Vertigo, Wotan, and Ultra-Humanite sat at a round table. Black Adam stood with the Atomic Skull against a wall. Joker and Harley were posed mid-dance in the middle of the room. Wally leaned towards Klarion.

"What's the injustice league doing here?" the lord of order whispered.

"Why Klarion," Joker dropped Harley before sauntering towards the lords, "you never told us you were bringing a friend!"

"I wasn't expecting you to be here," Klarion scouled. Joker laughed.

"Oh, only a sour look for ol' Joker? What happened to the sadistic little hell child we all know and love?"

"Joker," Count Vertigo interrupted, "Klarion has a meeting to attend. Let's not keep him." Klarion glared at the Count before pulling Wally with him by the wrist. "They made it quite clear that they wanted to see you alone today."

"I don't care what **they** want." Klarion still stopped in front of the heavy steel door that led to the meeting room.

"Come now," the Count smiled up at Klarion from where he was seated, "we won't bite." Klarion huffed the huff of defeat.

"You really won't if you want to keep your heads." Wait. Klarion handed Teekle to Wally. A. The witch boy pushed open one of the heavy doors. Minute. Klarion was just going to leave Wally alone. The door clicked closed behind Klarion. A low chuckle had Wally slowly turning back around. Count Vertigo was giving him a dangerous grin while Wotan scrutinised Wally like a bug under a microscope.

"So, you're the new lord of order then?" Wotan said.

"So that's who he is?!" Poison Ivy sat up to get a better look. "He looks even younger than Klarion."

"OOOOoo! But he's cute!" Wally nearly dropped Teekle when Harley glomped him. "So what's yer name, Doll?"

"I-uh"

"Harley, give the boy some space." Ultra-Humanite frowned. Harley stuck her tongue out, but still let go after Teekle hissed.

"Still, lord of order? These mystical deities just seem too young to be as powerful as they are." Ivy was looking him up and down now. Wally's skin felt ice cold under their scrutiny. "You got a name or what kid?"

"W-I-i-that-" Wally gulped, "R-Rudolf, c-c-call me Rudolph." He flinched when another pair of arms were thrown around his neck.

"Pleasure to meet you Rudy!" Loker smiled. "And say," Joker spun Wally around to face the crazy clown. "You do magic, Wotan does magic, how about a little competition?"

"I'd rather not," Wotan shook his head, "Even I'm no match for a lord of order."

"Aww, don't be such a spoil sport!" Joker pouted before nudging Rudolf, "Go on, tell him! You'll go easy on him, won't ya?!"

"A-actually, I'd rather not either." Rudolf looked down.

"What? Why?"

"Well," Fuck, Wally did **not** want to tell Joker, or any of these villains this, but he somehow felt like these people could smell lies. "I..dun..mu..mgc.."

"Don't be shy," Harley coaxed, "Speak up Doll. We won't make fun of ya!" Wally looked over at Harley. Something in her eyes reminded him of Black Canary. She had that "trust me I'm a therapist" look.

"I… don't actually know any magic." Every face in the room went blank.

"You don't know any magic?" Wotan asked, shocked.

"...No." Wally was so sure he was about to get his ass handed to him he screamed a silent wish to have never asked to leave Klarion's pocket dimension.

"That's amazing." Now all eyes were on Wotan. "Your power must be absolutely unheard of for the lordship to have been passed on to you without knowing any magic." Wotan seemed genuinely impressed before his expression changed to something almost mischievous. "Would you like me to teach you something?"

…..

"Just like how I got bad vibes when I first met his stupid boyfriend!" Hold up.

"Boyfriend? Wally's gay?!" Artemis was shocked.

"Not really, he was like, **super** , into girls before he met that douche."

"He never even talked about having a boyfriend…"

"Yeah, well I wouldn't go bragging about dating a freak like that either. Ryan was a creep!" Bart moved his arms about as he talked. "The dude gave off so many bad vibes! He broke my nose!"

"Really?"

"Yes, uh! He's pale, has this ugly haircut, and these beady eyes-" suddenly Bart's eyes were wide as saucers. "No…" Bart yanked Artemis up with him before speeding them both back to the main room where the other heroes were still gathered.

"Bart, what-"

"Computer, bring up the Klarion file!" A holographic image of the witch boy popped up with the file's information listed next to it. Bart was transfixed on Klarion. He was imagining the lord of chaos without the hair spikes, white skin instead of blue, and in a dark blue hoodie with skinny jeans. Holy shit, how hadn't he noticed. "Kon!" Bart turned to Superboy. "Look at this!"

"The Klarion file?" Superboy was just as stunned and confused as everyone else in the room.

"Yes, can't you see who it is?!"

"Klarion the witch boy?"

"Uhh! Kla-rion, rion, Rye-an! Klarion **is** Ryan!" You could see the moment that the lights went on in Superboy's head.

"That's impossible!" Exclaimed Flash.

"Who's Ryan?" Batman demanded.

"He's Wally's boyfriend," Flash explained, "But he seemed like such a good kid…"

"He was playing us for fools!" Bart growled, "That's why I got bad vibes when I first met him! He **must** have taken Wally!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves-"

"Robin?! Really?! You never even met the guy! Me and Kon did! Hell, you haven't been taking this seriously at all! Do you even care that-"

"I **do** care Bart, and yelling doesn't get your point across any better."

"Robin, what aren't you telling us?" Batman glared at his own protege, but the boy didn't even waver.

"The truth."

"You know where Wally is?"

"No, Flash, but I know just about everything else."

"Then tell us!"

"I can't."

"Why?!"

"We can't!" Miss Martian interjected, because you know all the attention just **had** to be on her.

"Why can't you?" Batman now turned his glare on her. She nearly crumbled beneath it.

"Because Wally doesn't want us to." And all eyes fell back to Robin.

"Well clearly he wasn't in the right frame of mind, or at least the situation has changed enough that you need to tell us!" Giovanni supplied.

"You won't like it," Robin warned.

"Tell us," Batman commanded. Kon and M'gann where both on edge.

"He wasn't happy." Now everyone was confused. "Wally was miserable in fact. He had no friends at school, and we, the only friends he did have, live in a completely different world. His mother is either busy at work, or busy with Bart. He never got any recognition for anything he did from anyone but me. But even I couldn't always be there for him. Do you have any idea how many awards your brother has? Where you ever there when he got them? Could you even tell me what one of them is for? Do you know that from fifth to ninth grade Wally had an eating disorder? No! You never even noticed that your brother was bulimic for years! He never let me tell anyone but his school nurses because he wanted you to figure it out on your own! He wanted someone to notice him! I've talked him down from suicide twice! He's been the there for everyone else, but no one could be there for him because they were busy. I didn't have time to always be around him, true, but at least I made an effort, and my effort went pretty damn far too." The expressions around him had gone from confused to shocked to guilty. No doubt most of them remembering at time Wally put them above himself, but they never did the same. "I can't remember a time before Wally met Ryan that he'd ever looked so happy." Everyone went back to looking shocked. "Did I know that Ryan was Klarion? Yes. Did Klarion kidnap Wally? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Maybe they ran away together. What I do know is that Wally is in an extremely dangerous relationship that he wanted to be in. Even if we save him, he'd probably just leave again. Wally is nothing if not loyal, so if he was desperate enough to stay With Klarion that he was willing to threaten to divulge league secrets then he isn't going to let this relationship go."

"Robin," Giovanni sighed, "can't you see he's being manipulated?"

"Even so he-"

"No Robin," Batman interjected, "Wally doesn't know right from wrong right now, and I'm starting to think you don't either."

"Batman, what are you saying?"

"It's extremely irresponsible to have Known Wally was suffering, but you didn't tell anyone. He could have gotten seriously hurt."

"He was!"

"And you let it happen."

"No, **I** was the one helping him!"

"Robin, I don't have a choice." Batman's school grew even harder. Robin glared right back. "Until further notice you are suspended, and grounded."

"What?! You can't do this!" Batman pressed a button on his utility belt that made little red lights flash on Robin's own glove and belt.

"Your tech is now on lockdown, go back to the cave and turn in you suit." Robin looked back at Batman in shock. No, he couldn't be doing this! Robin searched around the room, but no one was going to help him. They were kicking him out. They were taking away his identity! They were abandoning him! Robin stormed off to the zeta tube. They would all regret this.

…

Klarion was the first one out of the meeting. The three hours he'd been in there was torture! He had to know how his Wally was doing.

"Hey Klarion!" Klarion looked over at a smiling Wally, and nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Then Wally BURST INTO FUCKING **FLAMES!**

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Klarion would never admit to screaming like a girl, even if he did. Before he could even register what he was doing he grabbed Wally, but the fire went out just a suddenly as it had started. Klarion's face twisted with demonic rage when the injustice league, the light, and Wally himself all laughed at him. "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!"

"Yes!" Wally smiled and most of Klarion's anger melted away.

"I taught him a few tricks," Wotan smirked. Klarion practically growled at him while Teekle jumped up on Klarion's shoulders.

"I see that." Klarion yanked his Wally through a portal that led back to Klarion's room. The witch boy frowned down at Wally.

"What? Are you seriously upset that I made some friends?"

"No."

"Then what? Is this because I pranked you?" Klarion only scouled harder.

*mao meow* " _Use your words Klarion."_

"If you wanted to learn magic you should have asked me."

"...Awww! Your jealous!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are you creep! You're jealous of Wotan!"

"Shut up." Klarion pouted harder. Wally smiled and wrapped his arms around the moody witch boy.

"Wotan did teach me a bit of illusion magic, but what I really want to know is healing." He looked up at Klarion with emerald eyes. "Teach me o powerful lord of chaos." Klarion finally cracked a smile.

"I might not be the best teacher for healing magic, but how could I say no to you~." Klarion nuzzled his Wally. He was not looking forward to bringing Wally to the proper teacher.

 **I'm watching jail (the T.V. show) right now and I can't believe how dumb people are. This was originally miss-typed. I have never been to jail.**


	9. The Split

**So sorry I haven't update recently. Life has been crazy. Thank you everyone who's been reading this. And a special thanks to all my awesome reviewers!**

Bruce Wayne was ready to be done with today. He felt awful about suspending and grounding Dick, but he was also severely disappointed with his charge. Dick had been trained to handle all situations. He should have known to tell someone about Wally's problems even if Wally had told him not to. Bruce had stayed another hour at Mt. Justice before spending three more at the tower trying to figure out the Wally issue and several others. Now it was time to perform his most daunting task of the day: talking to Dick. Bruce made his way up from the batcave to Dick's room. He paused just outside the door.

 _"Breathe,"_ Bruce thought to himself, _"You need to make him understand that what he did wasn't actually helping. Just talk carefully. Don't make him more upset than he already is. The terms of his punishment will only be negotiable if you are absolutely positive that he isn't hiding anything else from you."_ Bruce knocked on the door. When he didn't get an answer he slowly opened the door to an empty room. Ok, so he just went to the gym to blow off steam then. Bruce closed Dick's door and started towards the gym.

If Bruce had looked closer he would have noticed the room was off. If he had checked the dresser he would have found all of Dick's more functional clothes were gone. Dick's allowance was missing from his secret hiding place in the batcave along with some cans, water bottles, and bars from the pantry down in the kitchen. When Bruce got down to the gym and still didn't find Dick he decided to call Alfred. The warning alarms went off immediately when Alfred told Bruce that he hadn't seen or heard Dick since breakfast.

…

"Where are we going?" Wally asked as he was led through the winding maze that was Klarion's house.

"We're going to meet your teacher before I lose my nerve." Now Wally was even more curious.

"Who are they?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Klarion was stopped by Wally clinging to his arm to hold him in place.

"But Klllaaarrriiiooonnn!"

"But nothing." Klarion blushed and, unfortunately for him, Wally noticed. Wally smirked as he pressed himself against the lord of chaos. "Rudolf, stop." Wally's smirk turned into a frown.

"Don't call me that."

"Well, I'd rather not meet your teacher with a boner." Wally reluctantly let go of Klarion. "Why can't I call you Rudolf anyway? Teekle said it's what you introduced yourself to the injustice league as."

"Yeah, but they aren't you. It's one thing if they call me Rudolph, but I really don't like my middle name."

"Why?" Wally glanced over at Klarion out of the corner of his eye.

"It was my father's name." This stopped Klarion in his tracks.

"I'm sorry." Klarion looked down at his feet. Wally took his boyfriend's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"My dad was an ass, people thought he was a good guy, but he really wasn't. People think you're awful, but I don't care. You just have some anger issues."

"Trust me Wally," Klarion sighed, "my problems are way worse than some simple anger issues."

…

As much as Kon didn't like the idea of going to prison it was more appealing than going back to school. Megan clearly loved their new school, and had easily assimilated with the populace. Kon was jealous of her for it. The only reason he had even survived the first day was because of her dragging him through it. Of course that caused a whole other issue with everyone assuming they were dating. Megan was his friend and maybe sister, but he never felt anything romantic towards her. After the whole Wally and Robin incident though he was surprised they were even going through with this mission.

This had been planned by Batman himself, but was now being headed by a man named The Question. They would infiltrate Belle Reve as villains to investigate rumors of a prison break. Right now he was eagerly awaiting not having to wear these dumb suspenders.

"Dude," Jr. leaned over to Kon, or rather, Tommy, "dude, your sister is sweet!" Megan rolled her eyes to show that she had heard him, and was not interested. "How 'bout you put in a good word for me? Oof!"

"Settle down," the guard commanded after shoving Jr. back into his seat. Kon wasn't sure why this upset him. "We're here." The three of them filed out of the transport vehicle and into a line with Victor Fries.

"I am the final law here," Their attention was drawn up to a large black woman standing on a balcony. "I am Amanda Waller. I am not your mama, your maiden, aunt, or your friend. I am your warden, and you are my prisoners. The proprietary collars you wear are custom designed to inhibit your specific meta abilities. In addition," she pulled out a control, "they can and will be used to discipline inmates. Anyone who breaks the rules gets one warning." She pressed the button and all four prisoners were on their knees in pain from the shock. "If order has not been restored the next shock will render the offender unconscious. At the slightest hint of trouble this facility goes into lockdown. Belle Rev's walls are thick enough to hold superman. We know, we checked. No one's ever escaped Belle Rev, no one ever will."

"Ahem"

"This is professor Hugo Strange, he is your maid and aunt." The scrawny man stepped up to the balcony railing with a bitter sweet grin.

"Actually, I'm the prison psychiatrist. And I promise you a sincere attempt at rehabilitation."

"Because we know you types are all about sincerity."

…

*wham*

"You know, you could knock first."

"Where's Robin?"

"Out." Batman grabbed Roy by the shirt and slammed him against a wall.

"Out where?"

"How should I know," Roy calmly replied, "I don't have a bell on the kid."

"I know he's been staying here, and you will tell me were he is or else."

"Plausible deniability Bats. He was here, but now he's not." Batman let him go. "I don't know when he'll be back either."

"Then I'll wait."

"And what exactly is your plan for when he gets back? Drag him to the batcave kicking and screaming?"

"That's between me and Robin."

"Bruce," Roy sighed, "you can't just push people away when you have problems, then turn around and force them to share. What you're doing is only going to force Dick further away."

"You don't understand."

"And you refuse to listen." A dead silence hung in the air of Roy's apartment for a good few minutes before batman turned to leave.

"I'll be back." the now broken door slammed shut behind the caped crusader.

"Well," Red Arrow said to an empty apartment, "we won't be here."

…

"So what's behind the portal?" Wally asked in reference to the giant swirling purple vortex Klarion had brought him to. It was the only thing in the entire room and klarion seemed hesitant to enter it.

"My home town."

"What? Dude, that's awesome!" Wally was practically bouncing in place at the idea of going to Klarion's birth place. Klarion groaned before snapping his fingers and changing into an outfit that bore a striking resemblance to a black and white version of pilgrim clothes. Another snap and Wally was dressed to match. "Whats with the outfits?" Wally asked as he scratched his itchy collar.

"It'll be a big enough shock already that you're there. I figured that wearing normal clothes might at least help holdback some of their inevitable freak out."

"Who's?"

"Just come on already." Klarion took Wally's hand and yanked him through the portal. Wally was not expecting to see an entire village of blue skinned people with black hair staring at them. They looked like they'd all just stopped whatever they were doing and were frozen. Klarion shuffled next to his Wally.

"Why are we in an underground village of blue pilgrims?"

"Welcome to Limbo town," Klarion whispered back as the villagers began creeping towards them.

"Klarion," a woman's voice rang over the silence, "is that you?" She stepped out of the crowd. A middle aged woman who looked to be on the verge of tears embraced Klarion with all the tenderness of a mother. "Where have you been?!" Klarion hugged her back as more of the crowd, which Wally was noticing was mostly women, came forward with questions.

"Why do you look so young?"

"How come you never came back till now?"

"Was the surface world truly great enough for you to abandon us?"

"Who's this?"

"Why's he those colors?"

"Where's his familiar?" The women began poking at Wally and Klarion soon broke it up with the promise of answering everyone's questions one at a time.

"Were have you been?" The woman who had hugged him reasked.

"On the surface."

"But where on the surface?! Why did you never come home?!"

"You didn't need me anymore-"

"Bullshit! You were awarded the right to become our new leader, but you left with the promise of returning. Well? It's been nearly forty years Klarion." The witch boy in question let his gaze fall to the ground. His hands rose into the air and the crowd took a step back as a red symbol appeared in the air above him. Two clawed hands cradled a small fire in the air. Wally suddenly remembered when he'd first become a lord of order, and the green symbol that had formed above him. The crowd gasped. "You are the lord of chaos?"

"Yes," Klarion replied before resting a hand on Wally's shoulder, "and he's the new lord of order." More gasps from the crowd, but Klarion wasn't finished yet. "You should know, his name is Wallace… he's my boyfriend." The crowd went silent. Wally probably could have guessed that gayness wasn't approved in a puritan wizard society. The cane that snapped out of the crowd to yank Wally down to the height of an elderly woman was unexpected though. "Hey-" With a crook of her finger Klarion was pulled down alongside his Wally by magic. The old woman scoffed.

"We've no right to hold you here, nor to demand your return." She studied Wally's face hard, "You always were a trouble maker. Sometimes I wonder if you were allergic to following rules." she smiled at Klarion, "At least he's pretty, no?" The witch boy's eyes widened in recognition.

"Mom?"

"Good to see you too, Brat."

…

Dick slid in through the window from the fire escape a little after one in the morning. He wasn't surprised to see Roy standing in the living room with two duffel bags: one for himself, and one for Dick. Batman had been here. It was time to go.

"How long do you plan to keep doing this?" Roy asked after the pair was well out of the city.

"Till I find Wally."

"What then?"

"I'll figure it out once I get there." Roy's hands tensed on the steering wheel of his rental car. His eyes danced between Dick and the road. He wanted to say something, but didn't know how to bring it up.

"What?"

"Batman…" Roy took a deep breath, "Batman wasn't the only one who showed up." Dick felt his blood turn to ice as Roy continued. "Deathstroke is pretty interested in the fight you're having with the Bat."

"What'd he want?"

"..."

"Roy-"

"You, he always wants you. Ever since you became Robin that asshole's wanted you." Dick went silent, "Batman never told you, did he?"

"He keeps me in the dark about a lot of things." Dick scouled, "He always has. I hate it. He always treats me like I'm a kid."

"You **are** a kid."

"Yeah, but I'm not stupid!"

"Some people would beg to differ-"

"Dammit, Roy!"

"Calm down," Roy's smile returned to his face, "Get some rest. We've got a long way to go." Dick tried, but gave up sleep after a while. It's hard to relax when you can't tell if the eyes you feel on you are from your mentor or a mercenary.

…

"Stick with me, Cellmate," Icicle Jr. insisted as he and the male terror twin walked through the yard, "I'll show you the ropes."

"Oh, who you kiddin'?" Conner replied in his best southern accent. "You ain't ever been in Bell Rev before. Yer liable ta get me hanged with them ropes."

"I may never have been incarcerated here, Tommy, but trust me: I know whereof I speak." He directed "Tommy's" gaze to a stand where a group of villains, Jr.'s father included, sat. "We pay homage to the top of the food chain. The big dog, the prison capo- my father." When Kon looked between Jr. and his old man it made him confused at how the teen could hold his father in such high regards. Jr. clearly had more raw power, more natural skill, and better looks (even if he was a bit purple). His father would be a washout if not for his experience and know-how.

"That's your fa- th-that's yer pa?"

"Yup," Jr. answered, not noticing Tommy's slip up. "Icicle Sr." a frown appeared on the ice teen's face, "Reeks when your dads **the** man, ya know?"

"Yeah," Kon's mind immediately went to Superman. He'd never expected to find someone so like him in Belle Reve. He bet Jr.'s dad the real inconsiderate ass too.

Both the boys looked over when the riddler got laughed away from where Jr's dad was sitting. Nigma didn't bother looking at anyone as he walked past until he went past Tommy. Jr. had taken a few steps towards his dad to distance himself from Belle Rev's whipping boy.

"Eight." Nigma looked up and stopped when he heard Tommy speak.

"What?"

"Well I recon it takes eight ice villains to screw in a light bulb: one to screw in the bulb, one to hold the ladder, and the other six got arrested already. It's also funny 'cause one of the most common figure skatin' techniques is the figure **eight.** " The Riddler suddenly perked up.

"Not exactly where I was going with it, but yes… Tommy was it? You seem like a reasonable guy, maybe you need a friend, huh?"

"Actualy," Jr. budded in by throwing an arm around Tommy's shoulders, "He already has a friend. Scram." Before Tommy could say a thing Nigma was off. "Dude, you can't be friend with the bottom of the food chain."

"Why?"

"It'll drag you down to his level man. Gah!" Jr. was tackled from behind, "Oof!" his attacked pinned him.

"Jr. I warned you what would happen next time we crossed paths." He made to punch the teen, but was socked in the jaw by Tommy instead. The force of the impact was enough to throw Cyclopes off Jr.

"Boy," one of cyclops's friends looked down at Tommy, "that was not wise." Kon helped up Jr. as the trio approached them. They grabbed Jr. just before even more villains surrounded Tommy. One of them grabbed Tommy from behind as Cyclopes approached for a "free shot".

"Wait," he stopped, "I know him. He's-" Tommy flipped the guy holding him onto Cyclopes only to be grabbed by two more.

"An idiot."

"No, don't you get it he's-" suddenly Cyclopes grabbed his head like he was in pain, "he's Tommy Terror."

"He's roadkill!"

"Enough!" The yard went quiet, and all looked to Icicle Sr. "Kids got guts." The two guys holding Tommy let go. "The kinda guts a father wouldn't mind seeing in his own son." As if for emphasis Jr. was shoved at Tommy.

"Great to see you too Dad," Jr. snarked.

"Get over here Jr." Kon didn't like the feeling he got when Jr. went over to where the rest of the ice villains were standing. He didn't trust them at all. Well, he didn't trust Jr. either, but he still didn't want the guy getting hurt. He wondered…

" _Alright Icicle, we're all here. Now what?"_ Yup, super hearing still working.

 _"Now we put the final pieces in place ta bust every single con outta Belle Reve."_ Well greaaat.

 _ **"M'gann,"**_ Kon reached over the mind link, _**"Are you hearing this?"**_

 _ **"Yes, it's exactly what we were looking for. I just didn't expect it so soon. Also, are you alright? They didn't hurt you?"**_

 _ **"No I'm fine. I'd be more worried about myself if I were you. Women are scary."**_

…

Klarion was so on edge he looked like he was expecting to get jumped any minute, but all the residents of Limbo town had been nothing but pleasant. Currently, they were sitting in Klarion's childhood home as his mother and sister filled him in on everything that Klarion had missed. They also fit in a few stories of Klarion's early years much to the witch boy's annoyance. Younger members of the town flocked to ask Klarion and Wally alike questions mostly about themselves and what it was like to be a lord. Every Time the surface was so much as mentioned the villager was chased off. Wally would have to ask about that later.

"So," Klarion's mother cut in between questions about Wally's hair to set down two owls of steaming hot grey goop. "what finally brings you home?" Klarion looked away from his mother so Wally answered instead,

"I need a tutor, and Klarion doesn't think he's good enough at light magic to help me."

"A tutor?" Klarion's sister, the woman who'd first approached them, asked, "What could any of us possibly teach a lord?"

"He became a lord without knowing any magic." Gasps and whispers traveled around the small house after Klarion spoke. Klarion's mother nearly fell over before her daughter helped her into a chair. She took a moment to regain her bearings before looking over at Wally.

"Must my son defy logic every time he speaks? A lord so powerful hasn't been seen since before our ancestors crossed the ocean. To teach you would be an honor," she once again smiled, "let us hope you make for a better student than my Klarion."

"I'll do my best Mrs. Bleak," Wally answered.

"Yes, and thank you mother," Klarion stood up abruptly, dragging Wally with him, "but we really must be going."

"Going?" Wally asked confused, "But we just got here, and we haven't even eaten." The lord of order gestured to the untouched bowls of what he assumed to be porridge.

"It tastes like chunky water, now you know, let's go." Klarion waved to his mother, who made no move to stop her son, before leaving. Teekle was up on Klarion's shoulder and they were back in the pocket dimension before Wally could fully process what had just happened. What set Klarion off like that? Wally regretted not paying any attention to Klarion while they were there. He might have been able to find out what had upset his boyfriend if he had.

"Dude, what's-" Wally was silenced when Klarion embraced him. The lord of chaos was shaking, and holy fuck Klarion was crying. Wally brought them down to kneel while returning the hug. "Klarion?"

"Just-" he took a shuddering breath, "Can we just sit like this? For a while… please…"

"Anything," Wally held Klarion tighter. Even when Klarion seemed to calm down Wally held onto him. He ran his fingers threw his boyfriend's hair. Every time his hand passed over Klarion's horns they popped back up like animal ears. Wally's other hand rested on Klarion's back. Klarion teleported them to his room and back into their usual clothes while still managing to hold onto one another. Wally didn't want to pressure Klarion, but he felt like they should talk.

"You can't ever leave me," Klarion spoke into Wally's shoulder. "You're mine, so you have to stay."

"I'm not going anywhere Klarion. I'm right here." Klarion only held onto his Wally tighter.

"My mother," Klarion wrapped his legs around Wally's waist, "she, she and my sister… they almost burned me and Teekle at the stake." Wally reacted instantly.

"What, why?!"

"Heracracy. I went to the surface, and when I returned to warn Limbo town about incoming danger they tied me and Teekle to a stake. My mother and sisters held the torches above the kindling that was supposed to roast us alive." Teekle jumped up on the bed and began to nuzzle her witch boy. "They never even hesitated…"

"Klarion…" Wally would have never guessed that Klarion's family would have done such a thing. Then again, no one believed the dark truth of his family at first either. Wally was so desperate to help Klarion at that moment. He didn't even flinch when Klarion pushed him onto his back and leaned over him.

"You're the only one besides Teekle that I have. Not my mother, not my sister; just you." Klarion studied Wally's face as if he was thinking really hard. "What if someone takes you from me?"

"That'll never happen-"

"But what if it does?!" Klarion sat down on Wally's hips so his hands would be free to roam over Wally's body. Wally blushed. The way Klarion was touching him felt so… possessive. "What if one of your friends begged you to leave?" Klarion brought his hands up to cup Wally's neck. His thumbs traced up Wally's trachea then pressed against his chin so Wally's head was forced back. Wally didn't resist the action. Klarion wasn't hurting him, but it did make Wally a little nervous that he could no longer see his boyfriend with his neck arched as far back as it would go. "What if your family tried to pull you away?" A wet, hot tongue ran up the expanse of Wally's neck so fast he wasn't sure if it was real, but damn if he wasn't turned on by it. "What if they needed you?" Another lick, this time a bit slower. Wally's head buzzed like he had a sugar rush. "Would you really stay?" Wally wanted to say yes, but he couldn't find the words. Once again that sinful tongue was there moving this time at a moderate pace. Wally made a sound somewhere between a moan and a whimper, and that seemed to be a cue for Klarion. The lord of chaos ground down on Wally. Wally found his voice.

"Klarion! Ahh!" Klarion hummed as he began sucking his Wally's throat. The lord of order felt like he was going crazy. He grabbed Klarion's hair with one hand and the back of his boyfriend's shirt with the other. "Klarion, I, hah, even if, ah, e-even if I leave, guh, I'll come back! Ahhn!" Klarion's teeth bit into Wally's throat hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to break skin.

"No!" Klarion growled as he pulled back to look at his flushing, panting, boyfriend. "What if they don't let you come back?"

"I-"

"They wouldn't let you comeback. I know," Klarion brought one of his hands down from Wally's chin, and slid it up his shirt to grope Wally's hip, "so I just won't let you leave."

"Wait!"

"Do you **want** to leave?"

"No! I- I just," Klarion let go of Wally's chin so the lord of order could look up at him. "I made a deal with you that I'd stay with you. That I'd be yours, but what if something did happen to my family?" Wally was expecting Klarion to get mad, but the lord of chaos just looked scared. "There has to be some way to prove that I'm yours even if we're apart."

"There is one way…" Wally sat up and pulled Klarion into a gentle kiss.

"What?"

"We could perform a ritual to bind our souls together."

…

Cameron felt… warm. Which was not a normal thing for him. Even with the inhibitor collar his body temperature was far below normal, but right now he could almost feel the blue of his skin turning a normal peachy shade with how hot his face was getting. Tommy Terror was not his sister. He lacked the big boobs and hourglass figure. So why the fuck did that smouldering, intense, look in the teen's eye make Jr. feel like an old southern woman coming down with a case of the vapors? Tommy was probably real popular with the ladies. All smooth skin, rippling muscles, and that dark mysterious vibe that sent shivers of excitement racing through him. Shit, Cameron had it bad.

"Jr," Cameron flushed harder when Tommy caught him staring. Then that beautiful son of a bitch had the gall to shoot him a sexy smirk and say, "you like what you see?"

"S-shut up." Fuck, that sounded pathetic.

"Make me."

"..." Cameron suddenly got the image of smashing his and Tommy's faces together. He shook his head to try to dislodge the thought but it was stuck just behind his eyes. "What's your deal?!"

"If you don't like it then tell me to stop."

"..." Cameron jumped down from the top bunk and walked over to where Tommy was sitting against the opposite wall. "You're a butt," he said before smashing their faces together in a far less graceful manner than he'd pictured, but Tommy didn't seem to mind. The larger teen brought his muscular arms around Camron. He gently coaxed the ice villain into his lap without breaking the kiss. Cameron threw his arms around Tommy's neck. When they pulled apart Cameron was breathless and Tommy had an even bigger smile.

"Does this make you a butt kisser?" Tommy only laughed when Cameron shoved him and hopped back on the top bunk to sulk. Tommy caught his breath and was about to apologize when two new sets of clothes were dropped through the door.

" _Payback_ ," Thought Cameron, He sat up and dangled his legs off the bunk while Tommy went over and picked up the new clothes. "Tommy boy," Cameron said in a voice that was his very best attempt at taunting, "I'd advise you put the new raggs on sooner rather than later~." Tommy once again smirked before facing his back to Cameron and taking off his orange jumpsuit. While Cameron was ogling him he also sent out a telekinetic message to Megan.

 **"The break is coming 'sooner than later',"**

 **"I'll let Aqualad know."**

 **"Right,"** Aqualad linked in from where he was stationed just outside of Belle Reve in Miss M's ship, " **Time to pull you two out."**

 **"No."**

 **"Superboy is right, if we do anything now they'll just try again later. We need to find out how they're breaking out."**

 **"Agreed, we remain on alert."**

Two hours later Kon almost wished they'd just gone with Aqualad. He and Megan had been called into Professor Strange's office for their first therapy session.

"Here's my concern," the professor began, "your anti social tendencies are a road block to rehabilitation, and are often the result of a conflict with a mother figure." Hugo Strange leaned on his desk in what Kon felt was an attempt to act casual. "Hmm? Hmm?"

"Hmmf," was Tommy's only response.

"It's really more of a father figure thang," Tuppence provided. This earned her an 'are you really doing this?' look from Tommy.

"Interesting, Tuppence. Expand on that."

"Or **don't** ," Tommy scouled.

"Healing requires open dialog, Tommy. Go on my dear."

"Well, he won't admit it, but Tommy really wants to be like his- our father." Tommy looked away. "Be able to fill Pa's shoes ya know? But, Pa's distant at best. He refuses to give Tommy the time a day. It makes Tommy feel unworthy of-"

"Well maybe Tommy refuses to live in Tuppence's stupid little fantasy world where every problem's solved in half an hour!" Tuppence looked shocked, then hurt. Tommy regretted his words if only a because he'd used them to hurt his friend.

"Excellent, I think we're making some real progress today." Tuppence's face twitched. Tommy caught it for only a moment before she spoke again.

"Well maybe you'd feel more accepted if you'd just come right out and tell people how you feel." Tommy immediately caught on. They had a mind link, and she had been listening in on his private thoughts. Something she had promised not to do. It was on.

"Beg pardon, sister? I need to come clean, do I?"

"Yes! How can you always be so dense-"

"I'm not the 'dense' one, Megan is!"

"Megan loved you!"

"Well she never had the common decency to talk ta me about it! She just went and waltzed into my life an started actin' like she owned me!"

"You coulda just told 'er the truth!"

"You callin' me a liar?! She lies to everybody every day! I know she lies about where she comes from. I know she lies about what she looks like. She didn't know that I know, but iffin I ever did tell 'er I'd want her to know that I lover just the same!"

"But you don't" Tuppence was crying now, tears filled her eyes even when she wiped away the few that made it to her cheeks. "You never loved her."

"Yes I did," Tommy lowered his voice, "an I still do, but I just don't love her like that."

"Then why didn't you say something sooner?" Tommy looked down at the floor.

"I didn't know. I knew I didn't feel that way 'bout her, but I only recently figured out why." The pair went quiet after that. Both ran out of things to say.

"I see," nodded Hugo Strange, "today has brought a lot of the truth to the surface for both of you. Though there is one thing I'd like to bring up before you go. Tommy, do you feel like your sexuality has affected your relationship with your father?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"Because he don't know."

 **The next chapter will have a sex scene that will only be on archive.**


	10. Practice

**I'm back! Sex scene is on archive of our own.**

"How does this work, exactly?" Wally asked Klarion as he leaned against the doorway to the room where the lord of chaos was setting up the soul binding ritual. The room was windowless with high ceilings and stone arches. The only light in the room were the candles sitting around the large circle Klarion was mumbling over, and the light that poured in from the hall.

"Well, we'll enter the circle, and then you'll just have to follow my lead from there."

"Yeah, but what exactly are we doing?" Wally took a couple steps forward only to notice Klarion was blushing up to his ears. "Klarion?"

"In order to bind two souls together for all eternity an act of extreme intimacy must be performed." Klarion clasped his hand around Wally's wrist. "We have to have sex."

*cough, cough*

"Are you choking on air?"

"I- ahem, I don't know if- if I'm ready for that kind of a step in our relationship."

"It's either sex, or we have to eat each other's kidney."

"Where did you get this spell from again?!" Wally tried to pull away from Klarion, but the raven's grip was firm.

"Relax, it'll work-"

"That's not the point!" Wally struggled harder, "Please, let me go!"

"You said you wanted this," Klarion growled as he yanked Wally closer. The ginger folded in on himself.

"Yes, but it didn't expect us to have to…"

"Do you not want to have sex with me? Are you not attracted to me?"

"That's not it!"

"Then what?!" Klarion grabbed Wally's chin and forced his boyfriend to look up at him. "I thought you loved me."

"I do!"

"..." Klarion glared down into his Wally's eyes like he was looking for something before suddenly letting the Ginger go and stepping away. "Not enough to trust me apparently."

"Klarion…" Wally reached out to the lord of chaos, but Klarion moved out of the way.

"A soul bond is far more intimate than sex, Wallace."

"Well I've never had sex before, so it's kind of a big deal to me!"

"I've never had sex before either." An uneasy silence fell over the pair as Klarion appeared to be working something out in his mind. The lord of chaos surged forward, grabbed Wally by the hair, and shoved him through the doorway. Wally let out a grunt when he hit the floor. He expected to have been teleported back to his room. Instead Wally found himself in Klarion's room. Teekle slipped past Wally into the hallway just before her witch boy shut his door. The lord of order was trapped like an animal in the belly of his boyfriend's lair.

…

"So how come you ain't sittin' with yer pa?" Tommy asked Cameron. The pair was sitting across from one another at an otherwise empty table in the back of the prison cafeteria.

"Because my **Pa** is a jerk who only wants me around when he needs me," Cameron replied in a way that oozed hatred for his father. Tommy was honestly surprised by the fact that Cameron seemed to hate his dad even more than Kon hated Superman. Then again, Cameron had known his father longer. "I try not to live or die over getting his approval. Ya know?"

"A little too well," Tommy mumbled.

"So… tell me about yourself!"

"Wha- bu- w-well there ain't much ta talk 'bout."

"Aw, come on! I wanna know who the real Tommy Terror is."

" _You're gonna be awfully disappointed then,"_ Kon thought to himself. For a brief moment he considered spilling the beans to Jr., but thought better of it. Cameron was still at the base of the escape plan. "I like animals."

"What kind of animals?" Cameron smiled to himself as big tough Tommy struggled to come up with things to tell the ice villain about himself. The roles from earlier were completely reversed.

"I-I like all of 'em?"

"You got a favorite?"

"...Pigeons."

"..."

" _Great, I just completely screwed up,"_ Kon panicked.

"Why pigeons?"

"Huh?"

"They're, like, rats with wings."

"Well, I like rats too, but I love pigeons because they're just about everywhere, they come in just about every color, aren't afraid of people, and they can always find their way home."

"Wow, leave it to the country boy to make pigeons sound amazing."

"Says the guy who thought Tuppence was cute."

"Hey," Jr. pointed his fork at Tommy, "it doesn't matter that you sister is a hot mama. I look at you, and I think: that guy **gets** me. And really, that's all you need; someone who sees the syco that you are, and likes you anyway!"

"Yeah… yer like an evil genius!"

"Word," Camron fist bumped Tommy, but the moment was lost when Mr. Fries struck Icicle Sr. with a lunch tray. He managed to kick the prison capo in the head before the guards activated his collar. The gotham ice villain collapsed to the ground as the guards moved in to haul him off.

"What in the heck was that about?" Tommy whispered to Cameron

"It's starting."

…

Roy and Dick had been on the road long enough for the younger hero's legs to have gone numb. It was a relief when they reached their destination: a secluded clearing in the woods. Roy had stayed behind to set up camp while Dick went off to gather firewood.

A million thoughts were running through his head. He was only fourteen, and on the run from the closest thing he had left to family. Dick paused for a moment before dropping all the wood he'd gathered. God, what was he doing? The idea of looking for Wally popped into his head before the fact that he had no idea where the hell Wally was struck him like lightning.

"Gahh!" No, wait, something was actually electrocuting him. The electricity coursed through his veins like fire. The last thing Robin saw before blacking out was an orange and black form looming over him.

…

"Stop! Klarion, you're hurting me!" Wally gritted out when Klarion pinned him front down on the bed with his arm twisted painfully behind him. He already knew he couldn't stop Klarion, but he was still going to try.

"Stop struggling!" Klarion's face was flushed, but fiercely determined. If wally could turn around he would also be able to see the growing sadistic arousal in Klarion. "It'll be easier after this. I promise." Klarion roughly shoved his leg between his Wally's to grind down on him. Wally was still struggling, but a bit more pressure on his arm had Wally stilling with a pained whimper.

"Please," Wally's voice came out as more of a pained squeak.

"Hmmn, if I let you up, you have to let me strip you."

"... no. AHHHH!" The sound of Wally's shoulder dislocating was lost in his scream before Klarion flipped him on his back. Wally went to grab his injured arm only to realize he was suddenly naked. "What the fuck?!" He tried to pull his legs up to cover himself. Klarion looked at him like he was a meal. The attention was both frightening and frighteningly arousing. He felt like Klarion's eyes were setting him on fire.

"Evomer ym sehtolc." Just like that the lord of chaos was completely nude as well. "Spread your legs Wallace."

"No!"

"Don't get difficult."

"Shut up! I'm saying no, that means fucking stop! I don't want this!" Klarion's face twisted into a dark grimace.

"You shut up! You're mine, I own you!" Two glowing red hands reached out from under the bed, grabbing Wally's legs and prying them apart. Klarion's voice became low, "You don't get a choice." Before Wally could respond to that Klarion's lips were against his in a burning kiss. His head spun as Klarion nipped and sucked his lips. Wally closed his eyes, trying to focus on the pain so he wouldn't give in to the pleasure.

…

Kon, or rather Tommy, and Cameron were walking back to their cell when Icle Sr. swept in from behind and grabbed Jr. He slammed his son against the wall before explaining his issue.

"There's a glitch, can't reach Frost."

"Scuse me," Tommy budded in, "I couldn't help but overhear."

"That'll happen when you eavesdrop," Icle Sr. snarled.

"Yeah, well, I can help," Tommy smirked, not willing to back down. "I got this mind link with my sister."

"I know your stats, boy, super strength only. No telepathy."

"It don't pay to advertise when they're slappin' collars round yer neck, but we're twins see? We got the psychic thing in utero. So, you talk to me, I talk to sis, sis talks to Frost."

"... Alright," Sr. gave in. He looked around to make sure there were no other eavesdroppers, "send the message: it's going down, **now**." Cameron hauled Komn away after that.

"Are you stupid? What were you thinking?" Cam hissed.

"I'm just helpin' you out, Ice Cube," Kon gave Jr. a wink.

"You did that for me?" Cam blushed before noticing Tommy's little word play. "Did you just call me ice cube instead of sugar cube?"

"Would you prefer sugar cube?"

"No!"

*beep beep beep* All of the sudden doors were slamming and red lights were flashing. Then everyone's collars shut off and all hell broke lose. Inmates were smashing security turrets and punching guards. Those who were in their cells smashed their way out. Kon hoped M'gann was doing alright on her end. After all she was hearing everything he was. Kon looked over to see the icicles suiting up. Sr. relied on some pathetic wrist device while Jr created ice armor using his own powers. It was really something else to look at, like he was wearing diamonds. Kon briefly wondered if even the meta's dick would be frosty.

"Strength should be back, dude," Cameron smiled.

"Right, right," Tommy snapped out of his revery to break off his collar.

"How're things going with Frost?" Sr. asked. Kon focused in on his connection to M'gann.

" _Please! I have a family!" the latina woman begged as Frost and three others stood over her. Tuppence was in the back, trying hard not to look worried._

 _"Oh, beg some more," Frost grinned sadistically, "it's much sweeter that way." Frost formed a ball of spikes around her fist. But before she could bring it down the ball exploded. The other girls turned around to see Tuppence, hands still raised from using her psychic power. "Well, Tuppy, aren't you just full of hidden talents."_

 _"I think my cover's-"_ the connection cut out.

"Frost is doin'' fine. She don't seem to get along with Tuppence much, though," Tommy reported.

"We'll go break them up while you handle things," Cameron led Tommy away, "You know Frost, always getting into cat fights!" The two boys rounded the corner while Icicle Sr. stood with the other Ice villains at the door. All at once they released a powerful blast that dropped the prison temperature by at least ten degrees, and sent ice climbing up the walls. Mammoth and other beefy villains smashed through the wall like it was glass.

"Where are we going'?" Tommy asked as Cameron picked up the pace.

"The laundry room, it separated the women's side from the men's. We'll work it from our side while Frost and her ladies work it from theirs."

"Right," Kon nodded, still trying to get through to M'gann. He hated to think about something happening to the overly peppy martian. She was his sister, his weird, obsessive, sister. Cameron Blasted the Wall with ice so Tommy could start pounding away at it. _"Hold on, M'gann. I'm coming."_

"Sooooo, Tommy,"

"Guh! Yeah?" Tommy grunted as he chipped away at the wall.

"Well, once we get out of here I was thinking, you, and your sister of course, could probably use a place. I can't stay in my old man's shadow forever so I figured we could team up."

"About that," Tommy stopped punching the wall to look back at Cameron. "I was thinkin' that you and me could… lie low for a bit. Maybe head north, just the two of us." Cameron stared at Tommy in wonder.

"Heh, you sure know how to treat a guy." Cam looked away. Tommy was so good, too good for Cameron. Know one had ever been this kind to him. When he looked up to see Tommy in front of him, those bright blue eyes staring down at him with nothing but love. Yes, Cameron would follow this boy anywhere. He had to stand on his tiptoes to throw his arms around Tommy's neck and kiss him. Tommy placed his hands protectively around Cameron's waist as the world around them seemed to disappear.

"Woah!" Cameron immediately pulled back from Tommy when he heard Frost say that. He hadn't even noticed that the girls had broken through the wall. "Don't stop on my account," she grinned.

"Where's Tuppence? My mental link with her got blocked."

"Your sis? She got a little 'insubordinate' so I gave her some time to cool off." Frost pointed behind her. Tommy darted through the hole to see Tuppence caught in a ball of ice. For once he was glad Martians were amazing at withstanding the cold. Back on the other side Frost clapped a hand on Jr.'s shoulder, "Your dad is going to have a field day when he finds out!"

"Could you at least let me tell him myself?"

"And risk missing the moment?" Frost's grin was that of a cheshire cat. Jr. gave out a defeated sigh.

*crash* The sound of Tuppence's icy prison shattering ended that discussion. Cam just hoped Tommy was going to hurry back.

"Are you okay, M'gann?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cold where I'm from. I'll be fine."

"Good, because we need to to get out of here. I need you to call Aqualad, tell him what's happening."

"What are you going to do?"

"There's somebody I've got to save." Just like that Kon was headed off without her. It broke her heart to know he'd never love her like that, but he saw her as a sister. He loved her like family, and she refused to betray that love.

"Cam, we gotta go," Tommy whispered, pulling Cameron away from the crowd.

"What are you talking about? Out is this way."

"No, Superman and the rest of the league are that way, come on." Kon pulled Cameron along, away from the others.

"Where are we going?"

"You know how you told me not to talk to Nygma?"

"Yeah?" The pair came up to Nygma's cell. The door was still locked, but Kon pried it open easily. He unscrewed the bolts on Nygma's toilet revealing where the pipe beneath had been moved to reveal a tunnel.

"Let's go."

…..

"Miss Martian, where's Superboy?" Superman asked. He definitely remembered his clone being assigned to this mission.

"He left."

"What?" The man of steel asked, certain he misheard her.

"The Riddler, Icicle Jr., and Tommy Terror escaped. Superboy is gone." She turned a surprisingly effective glare on Superman. "I'm surprised it even bothers you, after all, you never wanted him around to begin with." She flew off, leaving a bewildered Superman standing at the gates of Bell Rev. He was frightened, more frightened than he'd been in a long time in fact. Losing this kid should have been a relief, a burden off his shoulders. So why did he feel like a huge fucking failure?

 **So I decided probably no Sladin. Instead, I think I'm gonna stick with the rare ships and have Dick paired with someone else, but I'll let their identity be a secret for now. Your only two clues are that you haven't met them yet in the story, and Robin will meet them while with Slade.**


	11. Down Hill

**There's more poorly written smut on Archive if you want it. I'm paranoid of FanFiction deleting me. Sorry this took so long. Smut is hard to write.**

Robin woke up slowly. The first thing he was aware of was how warm everything was. Then how groggy he felt, like his blood had turned to cobwebs. Thirdly, someone was shaking him. Robin shot up, almost clocking the other person in the jaw with his head. He looked around in a panic. This was **not** the cave. His neck hurt from sleeping on a cement floor. The whole room was cement, no windows, one light embedded in the ceiling with a metal grate over it that casted odd shadows about the room, and a heavy-looking steel door. A timid hand lightly touched Robin's arm causing him to jump. Looking over he was met with a pair of steely blue eyes framed by golden lashes. It was a boy not much older than him. Heck, with how soft all his features were, and how big the boy eyes were, he might have mistaken him for a girl if not for the unusual sideburns that just barely stuck out from under the strange boy's short curly hair.

"Who are you?" Robin asked as he let his eyes fall down to what the other boy was wearing. His heart nearly stopped. Robin knew those colors. He'd faced off against Deathstroke alongside Batman a only a few times, but with someone like Deathstroke one time was enough. The dark orange came down from a black collar that started just under the blonde's chin and ended over his collar bone. It ran over his shoulders in one thick line on either side that went all the way along his arms before disappearing under black gloves. It also cut across his torso from his shoulders to hips in an X pattern. The same lines that ran down his arms also ran down the outer sides of his legs. The rest of the suit was all black save for the metal plating and utility belt over his black and orange kevlar. Robin drew back when he saw this. This round-eyed kid worked for Deathstroke?

The other boy looked at him with sadness and worry. Like he had some awful secret he had to share, and Robin wouldn't like it. The boy pointed at Robin's chest, and, sure enough, when he looked down at himself he was not pleased. While Robin was asleep he'd been changed into the same kevlar and metal suit the other boy was wearing.

"What's going on?! Why am I wearing this?!" Robin got up in the other boy's face demanding answers. The blonde shrunk back in fear. A thought occurred to Robin. There was no way this timid kid could be one of Deathstroke's henchmen, so maybe he'd also been brought to… wherever they were against his will? "Hey, uh," Robin spoke more gently this time, as if speaking to a tiny animal, "I'm sorry for getting in your face like that, but I really need your help. Do you have any idea what's happening?"

"..." The boy nodded, but still continued to shrink away. Suddenly he glanced at the door before his eyes widened. He grabbed Robin by the wrist, spinning him around to face the door while also pulling him further into the room. In the doorway stood none other than Deathstroke the Terminator. Robin couldn't see much through the man's mask. Just a ponytail of straight grey hair that stuck out from the back, and one steel blue eye.

….

"HOW COULD YOU LOSE HIM?!" The Batman roared in Red Arrow's face. Roy regretted coming to gotham alone.

"He walked off to find firewood, and never came back. I searched the whole forest for the kid, he's gone." Roy tried to stand tall and confident, but with an angry Batman it was hard not to piss himself in fear.

"Did you at least find any clues?" Batman kept his voice level. He had to keep his composure if he wanted to find Dick. He should have never grounded him in the first place. If he hadn't Dick would still be here. Everything was falling apart, and Bruce couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault.

….

"Greyson, how good to see you without the Bat looming over you." Dick was taken aback by Deathstroke knowing his secret identity before suddenly realising how bare his face felt. No mask, no secret.

"What do you want with us Deathstroke?" Robin growled.

"Us? Well, I have to say I wasn't expecting you to warm up to your new partner so quickly. It will make things easier though."

"Answer my questions!"

"In due time, Boy." Deathstroke remained infuriatingly calm. He even dared to turn his back on Robin and walk away. "Follow," the mercenary commanded. Robin was about to run up and attack the smug bastard when a wiry arm flew out in front of him. The other boy shook his head no. His eyes were filled with fear and concern. Now that Dick could see with the light from the hall he could make out the fading bruises and cuts painting the blonde's face. "Boys," The word was deep and threatening, prompting them to follow.

Dick tried to memorise the twisting halls, but everything was so dim. He was also admittedly distracted by the blonde who'd somehow wormed his fingers around Dick's hand without him noticing, and if Dick returned the hand hold he would say it was for the other boy's sake. Soon enough the sounds of giant gears filled Deathstroke's lair. Then, the cement halls gave way to what Dick could only describe as a throne room within a giant clock. All around them gears the size of cars and bigger moved in steady rhythm. In the center of all this movement was the ballroom sized floor the three of them were standing on. A tall black throne rested on a pedestal. Behind the throne was a menagerie of screens along the far side of the floor held up by metal beams in place of the nonexistent walls.

"Welcome home," Deathstroke broke the silence.

"I already have a home," Robin snapped back.

"Do you now?" Deathstroke began walking toward the other side of the floor. Robin would have followed, but the blond boy stayed where he was so Dick did the same. "Because I'll tell you now, you best forget trying to go back. From now on you are my apprentice." Deathstroke made his way around the throne, finally motioning for the pair to approach. Once they'd just gotten past the throne Deathstroke motioned for them to stop. Robin was really hating that he was following all these commands, but a voice in the back of his head reminded him that he was protecting the kid. "Harbinger, approach."

The blonde seemed reluctant to let Dick go, but jogged over to Deathstroke's side anyway. He stood with his legs apart, back strait, and arms folded behind his back. The blonde looked so small next to the merc.

"You will try to resist. I anticipate it." Deathstroke left the blonde, Harbinger apparently, where he stood. Robin tensed for an attack as the merc stalked towards him. "You still believe there is a way out of this."

The moment Deathstroke stepped within his range Dick lashed out. His fist was caught easily by Deathstroke who then bent it back. Robin grabbed Deathstroke's wrist, trying to free his fist as Deathstroke continued to bend it back.

"I have faith that you will learn quickly." Robin was forced to his knees. His eyes flickering to Harbinger. The bonde was on the balls of his feet, trying to hold himself back from helping Dick. For that short second that Dick was distracted Deathstroke slammed his knee into Dick's jaw. The hit sent him reeling, and by the time he was able to see strait Deathstroke was across the floor back in front of the screens.

Deathstroke pressed a button on his wrist causing the screens to come to life. The outlines of four different people as well as several charts and live feeds his Dick harder than Deathstroke ever could. Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann, and Bart were being monitored by Deathstroke down to their blood sugar levels.

"My other apprentice did well in his mission. I had Harbinger infiltrate Mt. justice and infect your precious friends. The league has no idea that their little experiment has become my free-roaming hostages." Dick pushed himself back onto his feet. He could practically feel the smile behind the mercenary's mask. "It won't be all bad. I think you'll even come to love the thrill and profits working with me can bring. You might even start to think of me as a father of sorts."

"I already have a father," Dick yelled as he charged Deathstroke, but just before he got close enough to land a hit Dick was tackled from the side by Harbinger. The hit knocked the air out of his lungs and stunned him long enough for Harbinger to pin Dick to the floor. Deathstroke kneeled down and grabbed a fistfull of Dick's hair and yanked his head at an uncomfortable angle so the boy wonder was forced to look at the screens. Another press of a button on his wrist and the screens went wild. The carts spiked and the live feeds of his friends had them suddenly collapsing in pain. Artemis screamed in agony, giving away her position to a fire manipulating robot. Wait, that was the library in the mountain. They had been under attack from villains in their home base this whole time, but Dick had been too distracted to notice. Whatever the mercenary was doing just might kill them before the robots do. "STOP!"

Deathstroke released the button and whatever had happened to his friends stopped. They were still in terrible danger, but at least they could fight back now.

"I trust you'll learn quickly."

…

Heading north wasn't exactly easy when Belle Reve was in the middle of a swamp down south, but having a boyfriend with super strength had its perks. Tommy had scooped Cameron up in his arms and took off. He wasn't really flying. The Terror twin was taking massive leaps that carried them so far if someone had seen them they'd probably think they were flying.

"Do you even know where we are?" Cameron eventually asked once they'd broken out of the swamp.

"Approximately. Why, somewhere you want to go?"

"No…" Cameron tightened his arms around Tommy's neck, "Hey, what happened to your accent?"

"Uh… w-well it's, uh, more of a shtick." Lying to Cameron felt like getting punched in the chest. He didn't even know why he was doing it.

"Oh," Cameron felt guilty for making things awkward. Shit, why was this suddenly so much harder? Getting out of prison and away from his dad should have made things easier. Cameron hardly even noticed they'd stopped until he was being carefully set onto his feet.

"I spotted an abandoned camp about a mile west. I'm going to grab some supplies. Be right back," Was all Tommy said before jumping away.

"Super strength, twin telepathy, and super sight," Cameron huffed, "What can't he do?" The ice villain sat under a nearby tree with a sigh. Soaring through the sky made things windy enough to counteract the summer heat, but down south things were still warmer than the ice villain preferred. Schools already started for normal kids so technically he supposed it could be fall. "How long is this going to take?"

Kon could hear everything Conner said. He should tell him. He should just sit Cam down and come clean, but what if Cam decided he didn't like him anymore? What if Cam only wanted to be with a villain? Conner landed in the camp with a scowl both from thinking so hard and from the smell. Beer bottles and food wrappers were scattered on the ground where bugs had taken to cleaning the crumbs. Clothing and camp supplies were dirty from being in the weather for days. Kon began picking up what seemed useful and packing it into the pair of backpacks that had been left amongst the other things. He was disgusted to see all this left out here. If Kon had his father's super speed he'd clean this place up, find whoever did this, and dump it on them. Instead, he made the most of the trash. There wasn't any food left over, but at least they had clothes, sleeping bags, and a tent now. Kon pannicked for a short moment when Cam wasn't where he left him.

The stream where he found him was wide and shallow. It sparkled from the light much like the ice meta himself. Kon watched for a few minutes as Cameron stood in the shallow water in nothing but his undershirt and prison issue underwear. Water dripped down his body as Cameron's ice armor was allowed to melt away. Features softened and clothes clung until there was a handsome teen standing in the water with his back to Kon. The wetness made Cameron's usually wild hair cling limply to his head, and wow did his wet underpants leave nothing to the imagination. Cameron jumped when Kon dropped the two backpacks where he was standing.

"Took you long enough!" Cameron complained to hide his embarrassment. The prisoners of Belle Rev were only required to bathe three times a week, and the pair hadn't been there long at all. "What all did you get?" Cameron leaned over Kon as the larger teen opened the bags. When he was handed a plain black T-shirt Cameron made a disgusted face. "This smells like beer and sweat." He leaned over the other bag with the sleeping bags. "And those smell like piss! No, gross," the ice metta began pulling everything out of the bags, "this all has to be washed. Hell, I should probably wash the tent and bags while I'm at it."

"Do you want some help?" Kon asked.

"No," Cameron waved him off, "didn't you find any food?"

"Just wrappers."

"Have you ever been camping before?" Kon shook his head no, "Do you know how to hunt, or what plants are safe to eat?"

"Yes," Kon responded, a little thankful for his genome education.

"Perfect, go find some food and when you get back I'll show you how to prepare it," Cameron ordered. He had already began organising the clothes for washing. Kon really should be going as he wasn't sure how long he could last seeing the other boy like this, but he blurted out a question anyway.

"Did you go camping often?"

"Kinda, my mom wasn't really in the picture so my dad would take me somewhere and leave me there a few days or weeks before he came back to find me. When I was really little he'd leave me with people. When I got old enough he'd just drop me off in the woods or a city to fend for myself." Cameron's eyes got dark as he spoke. Memories of his childhood flashing through his head. He had never told anyone such things about himself before. Tommy was different though. Maybe it was because the blond was the first person to show genuine attraction towards him, maybe it was because Cameron found himself breathless everytime Tommy smiled, or maybe he was just desperate for love. Still, the words flowed. "One time I got so hungry I even let child services pick me up. I got a good meal and a soft bed, but-" Cameron shook his head. Tommy took the silence as his cue to leave. Why was he doing this? Sure Tommy was attractive, and he totally wanted to tap that, but could Cameron stand to be betrayed again?

The ice metta looked down at his hands. His fingers were soft and fleshy, they were vulnerable. Quickly Cameron refroze his armor. Soft fingers became icy claws as he symbolically froze his heart. It would be better like this. This way, even if something happened his tears would freeze before anyone could see them.

Kon wanted to beat his head against something hard. He was terrible at emotions. The clone looked down from where he'd perched himself in a tree at several deer. The g-nomes had installed all kinds of information into his brain. He knew history, science, law, math, and languages. He knew Superman, and he knew how to kill. Killing a deer would be a waste with their current need for travel, though. So he stuck to watching the graceful creature graze below him. He wondered what one of them would say if he asked it for relationship advice.

"Oh hey Mr. Deer, I've been having some trouble with this boy I like and was wondering if you could help."

 _"Have you tried hitting your horns against other males and yelling loudly during mating season?"_

"Mating isn't the issue, we're having communication issues."

 _"As an instinctual animal that manages local females I find protecting them and mating them to be the two keys of a healthy relationship."_

"We can't just fuck each other into sharing our emotional problems!"

 _"Have you tried?_ "

"Augh, you're no help at all," Kon informed the male deer staring up at him in confusion.

…

Wally woke up slowly. Long, strong, arms held him close as a warm breath ghosted over his scalp.

"Meow meow meow…"

"Mph…" The body next to him grumbled in response to a sound coming from the other side of the door.

"Meow meow meow meow! (get up get up, it's time to get up!)"

"Uuuuug, noooo…" Klarion clung to his Wally mentally willing Teekle away.

"Meroooooww mow! (It's nearly dinner time!)"

"Go away!"

"Come on," this time it was Wally forcing him to get up. Klarion pouted at the lord of order as he detangled their bodies. "I think Teekle is hungry."

"She's fine," Klarion huffed as he slowly sat up and popped his back. He kept his eyes on his Wally. The red head's hair was mussed from sex. Bruises, scratches, and other marks stood out against his pale freckled skin. All the sudden Klarion wasn't in the mood to sleep anymore. He rose from his bed, caught his Wally's wrist, and pressed his front to the ginger's back. "How about we go take a shower?"

"How about an actual shower and some food?" Wally smirked even a he leaned back into Klarion's warmth. The lord of chaos's only response was to bite his Wally's ear. "OW!" Wally jumped away holding his ear. "Now you're definitely not getting anything."

"As if you can say no," Klarion smirked as he walked past. He didn't see Wally's face while he had his back turned to open a door to the bathroom. Wally's expression was conflicted even as he followed Klarion who, thankfully, kept to himself. Had he enjoyed what had happened? Yes. Had he consented to it? Not really. Klarion had a history of forcing Wally to do things now that Wally thought about it. A horrible thought occured. Had Dick been right? Was he developing stockholm? No, that couldn't be it. It was more like Wally somehow wanted to be forced. He wasn't quite sure how to explain it. The thought of someone else doing to him what Klarion had made Wally want to puke. But with Klarion it was almost relieving to think that he had no control. Nothing that happened was his fault. For once in his life Wally don't have to be responsible for everything happening around him. No longer was he the silent support.

"What are we? What is this?" Wally asked once he was seated at the dinner table across from Klarion with Teekle perching on the corner of the table.

"Well, hopefully tonight we'll be soul bonded," Klarion replied nonchalantly.

"That's not what I meant," Wally sighed.

"What did mean then?"

"I don't know, I just-" Wally then gestured to everything around him and made an exasperated and incomprehensible noise. Klarion wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know! I think you might be abusing me. I mean, you 'own' me, and you're always forcing me to do things weather I want to or not. A lot of people would get arrested for doing what you did to me last night. You kidnapped me. I'm basically a hostage in a pocket dimension that screws with time. Oh, and apparently we're supposed to be mortal enemies locked in eternal combat for the forces of good and evil. So am I okay? I. Don't. Know."

"..."

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"I didn't realise that you were having such a hard time with this," Klarion scouled, "I get the kidnapping part, and I kind of understand how things work with surface people. In limbo, though, if you wanted to marry someone you just kind of did it. As long as you were strong and both parties were single no one would stop you. And in Limbo no spouse is allowed to deny sexual advances from the other."

"I'm not from Limbo town, Klarion!" Wally sighed, "I just- I don't want to make the same mistake my mom did. She stayed with my dad despite him being an abusive drunk ass."

"I don't drink."

"But you kinda abuse me. You push me around, and hurt me, and manipulate me…"

"I always heal you."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're the one who hurt be in the first place!" Wally shot back. Klarion looked down at the table.

"I want to," he hissed seemingly at himself.

"Come again?"

"I want to hurt you. That sounds awful, but it's true. There's still this nagging feeling in the back of my head that I need to defeat you. I'm a lord of chaos! Chaos comes from the destruction, the decay, of order."

"..."

"But I also want to protect you. That's why I kidnapped you. I wanted to protect you from the world. I just don't…"

"Know how to protect me from yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Level the playing field. Help me study my magic more."

"That's not enough! It would take you years to get on my level."

"I thought we had eternity."

"What's eternity if I might hurt you an hour from now?" Wally always found himself surprised when Klarion became serious. "That's why when you wanted to take our relationship to the next level I chose a soul bond. This way, I can't hurt you without hurting myself." Neither of the boys knew what to say after that.

"Meow meow. (I told you you should have just killed him)"

"Shut up, Teekle."

"Hiss. (Your children will look like smurfs with their heads on fire.)" Everything was silent for the rest of breakfast. Each boy would regularly glance at the other trying to distinguish their emotions. Finally at the end of a most awkward meal Klarion spoke up.

"Fine, no more putting it off. Let's head outside and I'll start teaching you some useful magic. None of that illusion crud Wotan taught you." Klarion nearly melted from the look of sheer excitement Wally gave him. "Grab the books my mother lent you."

…

When Tommy returned he had two leaves full of berries and some nuts. It wasn't much, but he figured it would be enough. Cameron was waiting for him this time. The clothes and bags were stretched over rocks or hanging on tree branches.

"Hey," Cameron greeted while picking at the ice on his arm. His face screwed into confusion when he saw what the other boy had. "Is that all you got? I mean, you've got super strength, couldn't you have caught some rabbits or something?"

"I found some, but- I… couldn't bring myself to kill them." Kon looked down like a scolded puppy. Cameron just shook his head and let out a breathy laugh.

"You're such a softie," the ice meta chuckled. He walked over to take the food from Tommy. His cold fingers brushed Tommy's as he did. "Well, at least it's all edible."

"Cam…" Their eyes met. Cameron knew that look. Tommy was going to break some bad news to him. This was the end. He was going to tell Cameron that he'd been just a means to an end. He was just using to get out of Belle Rev easier, and now he was no longer needed. "I'm sorry-"

Kon didn't get to finish his sentence because Cameron had grabbed his face and began making out with him. The food fell to the ground forgotten. Cameron moved against Tommy, waiting for the other to push him away. If he did that would be the end, but until then Cameron allowed himself to remain in his fantasy.

Kon's heart was beating a mile a minute. He pushed the kiss deeper, capturing Cam in his embrace with just a hand placed firmly on the small of the ice meta's back. The feeling of Jr.'s cold tongue moving against his own hot one was intoxicating. Kon found himself falling into the haze, his previous intentions forgotten as Cameron bit Kon's lip. Kon brought his other hand up to Cameron's face. He wanted the other teen to look at him. He needed him to, but Cameron's eyes were screwed firmly shut even as the short ice villain push himself into Kon's heat.

"Cam-" Kon pulled back nearly breathless.

"Don't." Cameron cut him off again. His eyes were still shut tightly even as he said, "Just let me have this. Please?" Just for once in his life, just for this one moment Cameron wanted someone to make him feel attractive. He wanted to feel wanted. Even if he was scared that if he opened his eyes he'd see that Tommy didn't really love him he wanted this. He expected the Terror twin to protest. Instead, hot lips found the area where his neck and jaw met and attacked. The closer Tommy got to the spot just under Cam's ear the more the ice meta was squirming with pleasure and anticipation. Tommy was moving so slow. His hands crept up Cam's shirt, tracing the minimal muscles as if to map them. The light touch was driving Cam insane. Finally Tommy sucked hard on the sensitive spot just behind Cameron's earlobe and drew a moan out of the ice meta. Cameron quickly brought a hand up to cover his mouth. He was nearly melting with embarrassment. He felt a tug on his shirt as Tommy pulled away. Cam followed the silent lead and took his shirt off as Tommy removed the prison issue jumpsuit he was still wearing. At the flash of stomach Cameron was lunging forward to pull off Tommy's undershirt.

A short while later.

"I'm gonna start moving," Kon whispered in Cameron's ear.

"Fuck," Cam whined as Kon began rocking in and out of him. Each thrust pulled out further and shoved back in deeper. Cam felt so full. The force of Kon's thrust's was pushing him forward across the bank.

Kon could feel himself getting closer. It seemed like the longer he went the warmer Cam became. He was so tight, and the sounds he was making were intoxicating. As amazing as it felt there was a pain building up behind his eyes. Was he seriously having a migraine right now?

"K-kon, I can't! I'm coming!" Cameron practically screamed as he orgasmed across his stomach and the ground. His insides spasmed around Kon, driving him to the edge. The pain behind Kon's eyes was blinking. He felt like his eyes were on fire! "EEEEEP!" When his vision cleared there were two scorch marks to the side of Cameron's head. "What the fuck!" The ice meta scrambled away as fast as he could. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"N-no, I don't have laser vision, or, at least, I never had it before now…"


End file.
